Ambulatory Health Care Utilization Research Articles

Healthcare Utilization and Costs in Sepsis Survivors in Germany-Secondary Analysis of a Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Survivors of sepsis often face long-term sequelae after intensive care treatment. Compared to the period of hospitalization, little is known about the ambulatory healthcare utilization in sepsis patients. The study evaluated healthcare utilization and associated costs of sepsis care including allied health professions after initial hospitalization. Methods: Secondary analysis was performed on data in 210 sepsis patients prospectively enrolled from nine intensive care study centers across Germany. Data was collected via structured surveys among their Primary care (Family-) physicians (PCPs) within the first month after discharge from ICU (baseline) and again at 6, 12 and 24 months after discharge, each relating to the period following the last survey. Costs were assessed by standardized cost unit rates from a health care system’s perspective. Changes in healthcare utilization and costs over time were calculated using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results: Of the 210 patients enrolled, 146 (69.5%) patients completed the 24 months follow-up. In total, 109 patients were hospitalized within the first 6 months post-intensive care. Mean total direct costs per patient at 0–6 months were €17,531 (median: €6047), at 7–12 months €9029 (median: €3312), and at 13–24 months €18,703 (median: €12,828). The largest contributor to the total direct costs within the first 6 months was re-hospitalizations (€13,787 (median: €2965). After this first half year, we observed a significant decline in inpatient care costs for re-hospitalizations (p ≤ 0.001). PCPs were visited by more than 95% of patients over 24 months. Conclusions: Sepsis survivors have high health care utilization. Hospital readmissions are frequent and costly. Highest costs and hospitalizations were observed in more than half of patients within the first six months post-intensive care. Among all outpatient care providers, PCPs were consulted most frequently. Clinical impact: Sepsis survivors have a high healthcare utilization and related costs which persist after discharge from hospital. Within outpatient care, possible needs of sepsis survivors as physiotherapy or psychotherapy seem not to be met appropriately. Development of sepsis aftercare programs for early detection and treatment of complications should be prioritized.

Implementation of a cloud-based electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) platform in patients with advanced cancer

BackgroundPatient reported outcomes (PROs) have been associated with improved symptom management and quality of life in patients with cancer. However, the implementation of PROs in an academic clinical practice has not been thoroughly described. Here we report on the execution, feasibility and healthcare utilization outcomes of an electronic PRO (ePRO) application for cancer patients at an academic medical center.MethodsWe conducted a randomized trial comparing an experimental ePRO arm to standard of care in patients with advanced cancer in the thoracic, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary oncology groups at Stanford Cancer Center from March 2018 to November 2019. We describe the pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation phases of the ePRO arm, technological barriers, electronic health record (EHR) integration, clinician burden, and patient data privacy and security. Feasibility was pre-specified to be at least 70% completion of all questionnaires. Acceptability was based on patient and clinician feedback. Ambulatory healthcare utilization was assessed by reviewing numbers of phone messages, electronic portal messages, and referrals for supportive care.ResultsOf 617 ePRO questionnaires sent to 72 patients, 445 (72%) were completed. Most clinicians (87.5%) and patients (93%) felt neutral or positive about the ePRO tool’s ease of use. Exposure to ePRO did not cause a measurable change in ambulatory healthcare utilization, with a median of less than two phone messages and supportive care referrals, and 5–6 portal messages.ConclusionsWeb-based ePRO tools for patients with advanced cancer are feasible and acceptable without increasing clinical burden. Key lessons include the importance of pilot testing, engagement of stakeholders at all levels, and the need for customization by disease group. Future directions for this work include completion of EHR integration, expansion to other centers, and development of integrated workflows for routine clinical practice.

Association of Financial Worry and Material Financial Risk with Short-Term Ambulatory Healthcare Utilization in a Sample of Subsidized Exchange Patients.

Financial burden can affect healthcare utilization. Few studies have assessed the short-term associations between material (debt, trouble paying rent) and psychological (worry or distress about affording future healthcare) financial risks, and subsequent outpatient and emergency healthcare use. Worry was defined as concerns about affording future healthcare. Examine whether worry about affording healthcare is associated with healthcare utilization when controlling for material risk and general anxiety DESIGN: Longitudinal observational study PARTICIPANTS: Kaiser Permanente members with exchange-based federally subsidized health insurance (n = 450, 45% response rate) MAIN MEASURES: Survey measures of financial risks (material difficulty paying for medical care and worry about affording healthcare) and general anxiety. Healthcare use (primary care, urgent care, emergency department, and outpatient specialty visits) in the 6 months following survey completion. Emergency department and primary care visits were not associated with material risk, worry about affording care, or general anxiety in individual and pooled analyses (all 95% confidence intervals (CI) for relative risk (RR) included 1). Although no individual predictor was associated with urgent care use (all 95% CIs for RR included 1), worry about affording prescriptions (relative risk (RR) = 2.01; 95% CI 1.14, 3.55) and general anxiety (RR = 0.38; 95% CI 0.15, 0.95) were significant when included in the same model, suggesting the two confounded each other. Worry about affording healthcare services was associated with fewer specialty care visits (RR = 0.40; 95% CI 0.25, 0.64) even when controlling for material risk and general anxiety, although general anxiety was also associated with more specialty care visits (RR = 1.98; 95% CI, 1.23, 3.18). Screening for both general anxiety and financial worry may assist with specialty care utilization. Identifying these concerns may provide more opportunities to assist patients. Future research should examine interventions to reduce worry about cost of care.

Do community health workers affect non-urgent, ambulatory healthcare utilization among low-income, minority patients with diabetes?

Community health workers (CHWs) can reduce emergent care among low-income, ethnic minority patients with type 2 diabetes. A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of CHWs on non-urgent, ambulatory healthcare utilization. Within this trial, no effect on ambulatory care was found.

Overutilization of ambulatory medical care in the elderly German population?--An empirical study based on national insurance claims data and a review of foreign studies.

BackgroundBy definition, high utilizers receive a large proportion of medical services and produce relatively high costs. The authors report the results of a study on the utilization of ambulatory medical care by the elderly population in Germany in comparison to other OECD countries. Evidence points to an excessive utilization in Germany. It is important to document these utilization figures and compare them to those in other countries since the healtcare system in Germany stopped recording ambulatory healthcare utilization figures in 2008.MethodsThe study is based on the claims data of all insurants aged ≥ 65 of a statutory health insurance company in Germany (n = 123,224). Utilization was analyzed by the number of contacts with physicians in ambulatory medical care and by the number of different practices contacted over one year. Criteria for frequent attendance were ≥ 50 contacts with practices or contacts with ≥ 10 different practices or ≥ 3 practices of the same discipline per year. Descriptive statistical analysis and logistic regression were applied. Morbidity was analyzed by prevalence and relative risk for frequent attendance for 46 chronic diseases.ResultsNineteen percent of the elderly were identified as high utilizers, corresponding to approximately 3.5 million elderly people in Germany. Two main types were identified. One type has many contacts with practices, belongs to the oldest age group, suffers from severe somatic diseases and multimorbidity, and/or is dependent on long-term care. The other type contacts large numbers of practices, consists of younger elderly who often suffer from psychiatric and/or psychosomatic complaints, and is less frequently multimorbid and/or nursing care dependent.ConclusionWe found a very high rate of frequent attendance among the German elderly, which is unique among the OECD countries. Further research should clarify its reasons and if this degree of utilization is beneficial for elderly people.

시공간 분석을 이용한 외래 의료이용의 지역적 차이 분석

본 연구는 시공간분석을 이용하여 주요 만성질환인 고혈압, 당뇨병, 관절증과 총의료이용에 있어 지역별 외래의료이용 차이를 살펴보았다. 분석자료는 보건복지부와 한국보건사회연구원에서 발간하는 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008년 환자조사 자료를 이용하였으며 분석방법으로는 베이지안 계층적 시공간모형(bayesian hierarchial spatio-temporal model)을 이용하였다. 이때 지역의 공간적 상관성은 convolution CAR 모형을, 시간적 상관성은 Ornstein-Uhlenbeck 방법을 적용하여 분석하였다. 분석결과 질환별로 의료이용에 있어 지역적 차이가 존재하였다. 총의료 이용의 경우 시 군지역보다 대도시인 구지역에서 높은 상대위험비를 보인반면, 만성질환인 고혈압, 당뇨병, 관절증은 총의료이용과는 달리 강원도, 충청남북도, 전라남북도, 제주도 등 농어촌 지역에서 전국평균보다 높은 의료이용(상대위험비)을 보였다. 특히 고혈압은 부산경남 해안가 지역과 강원, 경기, 경북, 충청남도, 전북 등에서 높은 의료이용을 보였고, 관절증은 경기, 강원 일부와 충북, 충남, 전북, 전남, 경북, 경남지역 등에서, 당뇨병은 경기, 서울, 부산, 전라남북, 충청일부 지역에서 상대적으로 높은 의료이용을 보였다. 본 연구는 기존 연구와는 달리 공간적, 시간적 상관성을 고려함으로써 지역단위 분석시 공간적, 시간적 상관성을 고려하지 않음으로써 발생하는 통계적 오류를 최소화하였다. The purpose of this study was to examine the regional disparity of ambulatory health care utilization considering spatio-temporal variation in South Korea during 1996-2008(precisely, in 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2008) using bayesian hierarchial spatio-temporal model. The spatial pattern uses an intrinsic gaussian conditional autoregressive (CAR) error component. Ornstein-Uhlenbeck method was applied to detect the temporal patterns. The results showed that substantial temporal-geographical variation depending on diseases exists in Korea. On the Contrary to the pattern of total outpatient utilizations, for example, the areas that chronic diseases distributed relatively high were most in rural where the proportion of elderly population was higher than in the urban. Chungcheongnam-do, Junlabuk-do, and Kyeongsangbuk-do had higher risks in hypertension, whereas arthritis was higher risk in the Kyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Junlanam-do, and Junlabuk-do. The results of this study suggested that the effective health intervention programmes needed to alleviate the regional variation of health care utilization. These outcomes also provided the foundation for further investigation of risk factors and interventions in these high-risk areas.

A System Dynamics Model for Simulating Ambulatory Health Care Demands

This article demonstrates the utility of the system dynamics approach to model and simulate U.S. demand for ambulatory health care service both for the general population and for specific cohort subpopulations over the 5-year period, from 2003 to 2008. A system dynamics approach that is shown to meaningfully project demand for services has implications for health resource planning and for generating knowledge that is critical to assessing interventions. The study uses a cohort-component method in combination with structural modeling to simulate ambulatory health care utilization. Data are drawn from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. The simulation of the total population requiring ambulatory services between 2003 and 2008 is performed to test the functionality and validate the model. Results show a close agreement between the simulated and actual data; the percent error between the two is relatively low, 1.5% on average. In addition, simulations of purposively selected population subsets are executed (men, 18-24 years of age, white, African American, Hispanic, and insurance coverage), resulting in error between simulated and actual data, which is 7.05% on average. The proposed model demonstrates that it is possible to represent and mimic, with reasonable accuracy, the demand for health care services by the total ambulatory population and the demand by selected population subsets. This model and its simulation demonstrate how these techniques can be used to identify disparities among population subsets and a vehicle to test the impact of health care interventions on ambulatory utilization. A system dynamics approach may be a useful tool for policy and strategic planners.

Ambulatory health care utilization of the older people under the National Health Insurance in Taiwan

Background/PurposeTo analyze and describe the patterns of ambulatory care utilization by the older people within the Taiwanese National Health Insurance (NHI) program. MethodsThe nationwide computerized claims database of elderly ambulatory care visits under the NHI in 2004 was accessed. We obtained the complete outpatients service claim data sets of Western medicine for beneficiaries ≧ 65 years old. We then analyzed the pattern and frequency of visits by patient age, sex, and primary diagnosis. ResultsIn 2004, 96.6% of all elderly NHI beneficiaries had ever used ambulatory care service and there were totally 57,101,420 ambulatory care visits records from these elderly beneficiaries. The average ambulatory visit number of each beneficiary is 26.8±22.7 (mean±standard deviation) times per year, which was much higher than United States and other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Nearly one-half of the elderly had more than 24 times visits annually. Female beneficiaries had higher average annual ambulatory visit number but lower mean medical expense per visit than male beneficiaries. The middle old age group (75–84 years old) had highest average visits numbers (29.2±23.3) and highest average medical expense per visit: 37.1 US dollar. The three most frequent principal diagnoses of elderly ambulatory visits were diseases of the circulatory system (17.3%), diseases of the respiratory system (15.9%), and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (12.8%), respectively. While compared with United States data, the proportion of acute upper airway infection was much higher among old age ambulatory visits in Taiwan. ConclusionThe mean frequency of ambulatory visits of older people in Taiwan was high, especially in the middle-old age group. Health education and preventive services should focus on circulatory, respiratory, and musculoskeletal diseases, which accounted for nearly one-half of the primary diagnoses of old age ambulatory visits.

Health Services Utilization by Low-Income Limited English Proficient Adults

We evaluated the health care utilization of limited English proficiency (LEP) compared to English proficient (EP) adults with the same health insurance (Medicaid managed care) and full access to professional medical interpreters. Health care utilization over two years was compared for 567 LEP and 1162 EP adults. Multivariate analysis controlled for age, gender, months enrolled in Medicaid and morbidity. LEP compared to EP subjects were enrolled longer and more continuously in Medicaid, were 94% more likely to use primary care and 78% less likely to use the emergency department. Specialty visits and hospitalization did not differ. When language barriers are reduced and health insurance coverage is the same, LEP patients show ambulatory health care utilization associated with lower cost and more access to preventive care through establishing a primary care home.

Time Since Immigration and Health Services Utilization of Korean‐American Older Adults Living in Los Angeles County

The aim of this study was to characterize ambulatory healthcare utilization of older Korean Americans and its association with length of time since immigration. It was hypothesized that older Korean Americans who were recent immigrants would use outpatient physician visits less often than early immigrants. The data are from the 2000 Korean-American Health Survey, which assessed the health status and medical needs of Korean Americans living in Los Angeles County. The dependent variable was the number of visits to a physician for check-up or consultation. Multivariate regression modeling was used to assess the influence of length of time since immigration on the dependent variable controlling for predisposing, enabling, and need variables for a sample of 208 Koreans Americans aged 65 and older. Results indicated that high school education in Korea and health insurance status were significant predictors of number of visits to a physician during the previous year (P<.05). The main variable of interest, the number of years living in the United States, approached significance at P=.09. It was concluded that enabling variables such as education and health insurance significantly influenced use of healthcare services in the older Korean-American population. The lack of studies regarding older minority populations and their access to healthcare further highlight theneed not only to characterize the access of these often-vulnerable populations, but also to generate interest for further studies.

Increased patient concern after false-positive mammograms: clinician documentation and subsequent ambulatory visits.

To measure how often a breast-related concern was documented in medical records after screening mammography according to the mammogram result (normal, or true-negative vs false-positive) and to measure changes in health care utilization in the year after the mammogram. Cohort study. Large health maintenance organization in New England. Group of 496 women with false-positive screening mammograms and a comparison group of 496 women with normal screening mammograms, matched for location and year of mammogram. 1) Documentation in clinicians' notes of patient concern about the breast and 2) ambulatory health care utilization, both breast-related and non-breast-related, in the year after the mammogram. Fifty (10%) of 496 women with false-positive mammograms had documentation of breast-related concern during the 12 months after the mammogram, compared to 1 (0.2%) woman with a normal mammogram (P =.001). Documented concern increased with the intensity of recommended follow-up (P =.009). Subsequent ambulatory visits, not related to the screening mammogram, increased in the year after the mammogram among women with false-positive mammograms, both in terms of breast-related visits (incidence ratio, 3.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.69 to 5.93) and non-breast-related visits (incidence ratio, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.25). Clinicians document concern about breast cancer in 10% of women who have false-positive mammograms, and subsequent use of health care services are increased among women with false-positive mammogram results.

Women's Primary Care in the United States: A Study of Practice Variation Among Physician Specialties

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate specialty-specific variation in ambulatory health care utilization and preventive service delivery for women in the nonelderly population of the United States. Design: Descriptive analysis of a cross-sectional sample of the U.S. population. Data Source: 1989 and 1990 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Measurements: Office-based visits for women ages 15 to 64 years, excluding visits for obstetric care. Utilization and practice variation is examined among three physician specialty groups, family/general practitioners, internists, and gynecologists. Results: Striking variation in office-based visit rates exists among these specialties based on age, race, geographic region, and method of payment. Women seeking care for six common medical conditions were more likely to have visited a family/general practitioner than either an internist or gynecologist. General medical examinations and gynecologic care were rendered largely by gynecologists. Internists and family/general pr...