Search

Poor hypertension awareness and underuse of guideline-recommended medications are critical factors contributing to poor hypertension control. Using data from 8095 hypertensive people aged ≥18 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2018), we examined recent trends in racial and ethnic differences in awareness and antihypertensive medication use, and their association with racial and ethnic differences in hypertension control. Between 2011 and 2018, age-adjusted hypertension awareness declined for Black, Hispanic, and White individuals, but the 3 outcomes increased or did not change for Asian individuals. Compared with White individuals, Black individuals had a similar awareness (odds ratio, 1.20 [0.96-1.45]) and overall treatment rates (1.04 [0.84-1.25]), and received more intensive antihypertensive medication if treated (1.41 [1.27-1.56]), but had a lower control rate (0.72 [0.61-0.83]). Asian and Hispanic individuals had significantly lower awareness rates (0.69 [0.52-0.85] and 0.74 [0.59-0.89]), overall treatment rates (0.72 [0.57-0.88] and 0.69 [0.55-0.82]), received less intensive medication if treated (0.60 [0.50-0.72] and 0.86 [0.75-0.96]), and had lower control rates (0.66 [0.54-0.79] and 0.69 [0.57-0.81]). The racial and ethnic differences in awareness, treatment, and control persisted over the study period and were consistent across age, sex, and income strata. Lower awareness and treatment were significantly associated with lower control in Asian and Hispanic individuals (P<0.01 for all) but not in Black individuals. These findings highlight the need for interventions to improve awareness and treatment among Asian and Hispanic individuals, and more investigation into the downstream factors that may contribute to the poor hypertension control among Black individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objective: To estimate the potential mortality reduction if patients chose the safest hospitals for complex cancer surgery. Background: Mortality after complex oncologic surgery is highly variable across hospitals, and directing patients away from unsafe hospitals could potentially improve survivorship. Hospital quality measures are becoming increasingly accessible at a time when patients are more engaged in choosing providers. It is currently unclear what information to share with patients to maximally capitalize on patient-centered realignment. Methods: The National Cancer Database was queried for adults undergoing 5 complex cancer surgeries (pulmonary lobectomy, pneumonectomy, esophagectomy, gastrectomy, and colectomy) for a primary cancer between 2008 and 2012. Risk-standardized mortality rate (RSMR) methodology, currently used by Medicare-based hospital rating systems, was used to classify hospitals as "safest" and "least safe" by procedure. Patients were modeled moving from "least safe" to "safest" hospitals and the potential number of lives saved through patient realignment determined. As surgical volume has historically been used to distinguish safe hospitals, comparisons were made to models moving patients from low-volume to high-volume hospitals. Results: A total of 292,040 patients were analyzed. In an optimally modeled scenario, realignment using RSMR would result in a greater number of lives saved (3592 vs 2161, P < 0.01) and require only 15 patients to change hospitals to save a life, compared to 78 patients using volume models (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Public reporting of hospital safety, specifically based on RSMR instead of volume, has the potential to lead to meaningful reductions in surgical mortality after complex cancer surgery, even in the setting of a modest patient realignment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to examine associations between patient experience, as measured by Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, and the sociodemographic, cultural, and access-to-care factors of the surrounding community. Using an empty model, this study found that 27% of the variation in HCAHPS scores was at the level of the county in which the hospital was located. The county factors examined explained about half of this county-level variation. Among community factors most strongly associated with increased HCAHPS scores were higher numbers of primary care physicians per capita, fewer specialists per capita, and smaller percentages of African Americans and Hispanics in the county. A number of community factors beyond the hospitalization experience may influence HCAHPS scores. As HCAHPS gains importance as a measure of quality of care and is linked to higher payments over time, it will be essential to understand the possible effects of community factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although noninvasive telemonitoring in patients with heart failure does not reduce mortality or hospitalizations, less is known about its effect on health status. This study reports the results of a randomized clinical trial of telemonitoring on health status in patients with heart failure.Methods and Results: Among 1521 patients with recent heart failure hospitalization randomized in the Tele-HF trial (Telemonitoring to Improve Heart Failure Outcomes), 756 received telephonic monitoring and 765 usual care. Disease-specific health status was measured with the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) within 2 weeks of discharge and at 3 and 6 months. Repeated measures linear regression models were used to assess differences in KCCQ scores between patients assigned to telemonitoring and usual care over 6 months. The baseline characteristics of the 2 treatment arms were similar (mean age, 61 years; 43% female and 39% black). Over the 6-month follow-up period, there was a statistically significant, but clinically small, difference between the 2 groups in their KCCQ overall summary and subscale scores. The average KCCQ overall summary score for those receiving telemonitoring was 2.5 points (95% confidence interval, 0.38-4.67; P=0.02) higher than usual care, driven primarily by improvements in symptoms (3.5 points; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-5.82; P=0.003) and social function (3.1 points; 95% confidence interval, 0.30-6.00; P=0.03).Conclusions: Telemonitoring results in statistically significant, but clinically small, improvements in health status when compared with usual care. Given that the KCCQ was a secondary outcome, the benefits should be confirmed in future studies.Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT00303212. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the impact of financial uncertainty on individuals health. Topics discussed include poverty as the cause of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, heart attacks, and strokes; income volatility and other financial hardships occur may modify the impact on cardiovascular outcomes; and role of health delivery systems that affects person's health and well-being and the effect on health insurance and access to healthcare services.

Health information technology shows promise for improving chronic disease care. This study assessed the impact of a diabetes management form (DMF), accessible within an electronic health record. From 2007 to 2009, 2108 diabetes patients were seen in 20 primary care practices; 1103 visits involved use of the DMF in 2008. The primary outcome was “optimal care”: HbA1c ≤8%, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol <100 mg/dL, blood pressure <130/80 mm Hg, not smoking, and aspirin prescription in patients ≥40 years. After adjusting for number of visits, age, sex, and insulin use, DMF-exposed patients showed less improvement in attaining “optimal care” (estimated difference-in-difference [DID] = −2.06 percentage points; P < .001), LDL cholesterol (DID = −2.30; P = .023), blood pressure (DID = −3.05; P < .001), and total cholesterol (DID = −0.47; P = .004) targets. Documented microalbumin tests, aspirin prescription, and eye and foot exams increased more. Thus, DMF use was associated with smaller gains in achieving evidence-based targets, but greater improvement in documented delivery of care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although electronic health records (EHRs) promise to be efficient resources for measuring metrics of quality, they are not designed for such population-based analyses. Thus, extracting meaningful clinical data from them is not straightforward. To avoid poorly executed measurements, standardized methods to measure and to validate metrics of quality are needed. This study provides and evaluates a use case for a generally applicable approach to validating quality metrics measured electronically from EHR-based data. The authors iteratively refined and validated 4 outpatient quality metrics and classified errors in measurement. Multiple iterations of validation and measurement resulted in high levels of sensitivity and agreement versus the “gold standard” of manual review. In contrast, substantial differences remained for measurement based on coded billing data. Measuring quality metrics using an EHR-based electronic process requires validation to ensure accuracy; approaches to validation such as those described in this study should be used by organizations measuring quality from EHR-based information. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background-Registry studies have suggested improvements in door-to-balloon times, but a national assessment of the trends in door-to-balloon times is lacking. Moreover, we do not know whether improvements in door-to-balloon times were shared equally among patient and hospital groups. Methods and Results-This analysis includes all patients reported by hospitals to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for inclusion in the time to percutaneous coronary intervention (acute myocardial infarction-8) inpatient measure from January 1, 2005, through September 30, 2010. For each calendar year, we summarized the characteristics of patients reported for the measure, including the number and percentage in each group, the median time to primary percutaneous coronary intervention, and the percentage with time to primary percutaneous coronary intervention within 75 minutes and within 90 minutes. Door-to-balloon time declined from a median of 96 minutes in the year ending December 31, 2005, to a median of 64 minutes in the 3 quarters ending September 30, 2010. There were corresponding increases in the percentage of patients who had times <90 minutes (44.2% to 91.4%) and <75 minutes (27.3% to 70.4%). The declines in median times were greatest among groups that had the highest median times during the first period: patients >75 years of age (median decline, 38 minutes), women (35 minutes), and blacks (42 minutes). Conclusion-National progress has been achieved in the timeliness of treatment of patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction who undergo primary percutaneous coronary intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Among individuals with ischemic heart disease, young women with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) represent an extreme phenotype associated with an excess mortality risk. Although women younger than 55 years of age account for less than 5% of hospitalized AMI events, almost 16 000 deaths are reported annually in this group, making heart disease a leading killer of young women. Despite a higher risk of mortality compared with similarly aged men, young women have been the subject of few studies.Methods and Results: Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes of Young AMI Patients (VIRGO) is a large, observational study of the presentation, treatment, and outcomes of young women and men with AMI. VIRGO will enroll 2000 women, 18 to 55 years of age, with AMI and a comparison cohort of 1000 men with AMI from more than 100 participating hospitals. The aims of the study are to determine sex differences in the distribution and prognostic importance of biological, demographic, clinical, and psychosocial risk factors; to determine whether there are sex differences in the quality of care received by young AMI patients; and to determine how these factors contribute to sex differences in outcomes (including mortality, hospitalization, and health status). Blood serum and DNA for consenting participants will be stored for future studies.Conclusions: VIRGO will seek to identify novel and prognostic factors that contribute to outcomes in this young AMI population. Results from the study will be used to develop clinically useful risk-stratification models for young AMI patients, explain sex differences in outcomes, and identify targets for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a hospital-randomized controlled study on an educational quality improvement intervention, focusing on rural and small community hospitals. 47 hospitals participated in the trial, following the implementation of a Web-based quality benchmarking and case review tool. Rapid-cycle quality improvement educational sessions were provided for 23 hospitals randomized to the educational intervention. Challenges in implementing the trial included participants' difficulty in attending the sessions, and high turnover of participants.

The article focuses on the second phase of a study on the information technology (IT) capabilities of rural and community hospitals to determine how IT can improve the services in such hospitals in the U.S. in 2007. The method used involved a randomized controlled trial of 47 hospitals in a Texas county with less than 100,000 inhabitants. Quality improvement tools such as IT and data sharing were implemented to the participating hospitals. The analysis and results of the research are illustrated.

Diabetes care in the United States is suboptimal. Although closed-panel health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report performance superior to national norms, fee-for-service performance is uncertain. To address this issue, 3 outcome and 5 process indicators were measured for 2010 Medicare diabetes patients across 22 sites in a large, fee-for-service primary care group practice. American Diabetes Association standards for glycemic control, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure were met by 53%, 46%, and 19% of patients, respectively. Diabetes Quality Improvement Project/Alliance poor control markers for the same measures were exceeded by 9%, 20%, and 54% of patients. Chart abstraction demonstrated annual eye examination, foot examination, and nephropathy screening rates of 16%, 49%, and 38%, while Medicare claims showed an annual eye examination rate of 63%. Observed processes and outcomes in this fee-for-service setting were superior to reported national performance and similar to the best performance in staff-model HMOs and the VA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Hospitals are under increasing pressure to measure and improve quality of care, and substantial resources are being directed at a variety of quality improvement strategies; however, the evidence base supporting these strategies is limited.Objective: We sought to identify quality improvement efforts that were associated with hospitals' beta-blocker prescription rates after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Research Design: This was a cross-sectional study using data from a telephone survey of quality management directors at participating hospitals linked with patient-level data from the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction (NRMI) during the study period, October 1997 to September 1999.Subjects: A total of 60,363 patients discharged with a confirmed AMI from 234 US hospitals were included.Measures: Hospital performance based on beta-blocker rates characterized as the top 20%, lower 20%, and middle 40% of hospitals; reported quality improvement efforts, including system interventions, physician leadership, administrative support for quality improvement efforts, and data feedback; hospital teaching status, AMI volume, geographic location, and ownership type.Results: The mean hospital-specific beta-blocker rate was 60.2%; however, the variation in beta-blocker use across hospitals was marked (range, 19.4-89.3%, standard deviation, 12.7% points), and quality improvement efforts used varied greatly. None of the quality improvement efforts distinguished higher from medium performers; the higher and the medium performers together were distinguished from the lower performers in organizational support for quality improvement efforts (fully adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-3.06) and physician leadership (fully adjusted OR 9.88, 95% CI 2.64-37.02). Among the specific quality improvement interventions, only standing orders were associated with having higher/medium versus lower performance, and their effect had borderline significance (fully adjusted OR 2.26, 95% CI 0.97-5.30, P = 0.07).Conclusions: Our findings highlight the organizational environment, specifically the absence of administrative support or physician leadership for quality improvement, as an important correlate of poor beta-blocker rates after AMI. Future studies are needed to isolate hospital quality improvement efforts that are associated with superior performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National surveys indicate improvement in beta-blocker use after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) over time; however, these data could obscure important variation in improvement at individual hospitals. Our objective was to characterize the hospital-level variation in the improvements in beta-blocker prescription rates after AMI and to identify hospital characteristics that were associated with hospital improvement rates after adjustment for patient demographic and clinical characteristics.Methods and Results: We used data (n = 335,244 patients with AMI discharged from 682 hospitals) from the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction (NRMI) and from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals and hierarchical modeling to examine the associations between hospital characteristics and hospital-level rates of change in beta-blocker use during 1996-1999. On average, hospital rates of beta-blocker use for patients with AMI increased 5.9 percentage points (standard deviation, 9.7 percentage points) from the premidpoint time period (April 1996-February 1998) to the postmidpoint time period (March 1998-September 1999) of the study. The range in hospital-level changes in beta-blocker rates was substantial, from a decline of -50.0 percentage points to an increase of +35.7 percentage points. AMI volume and teaching status, geographic region, and initial beta-blocker use rates were associated with rate of improvement, but the magnitude of these effects was modest.Conclusions: The study reveals marked hospital-level variation in improvement in beta-blocker use after AMI. Several hospital characteristics were associated with this improvement, but they are weak predictors of hospital-based improvement in the use of beta-blockers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over 4 million women give birth annually in the United States, making delivery one of the most common reasons for hospital care., Objective: We examined 15-year trends in risk-adjusted maternal complications following childbirth., Research Design: We examined maternal obstetrical outcomes from 1992-2006 among women undergoing cesarean delivery (CD) and vaginal delivery (VD). A composite measure of major maternal complications including infection, hemorrhage, laceration, and other major operative and thrombotic complications was evaluated., Subjects: Population-based sample of over 6 million women from Florida and New York hospital discharge data., Measures: Obstetric procedures and maternal complications postdelivery., Results: During the 15-year time period, the CD rate decreased from 24.7% in 1992 to 23% in 1996 and increased to 34.7% in 2006. The risk-adjusted rate of any major complication declined from 14.7% in 1992 to 10.7% in 2006 for all deliveries; from 14.4% to 11.6% for VD; and from 15.7% to 8.5% for CD. During 1992 to 2006, the average number of comorbidities increased from 0.65 to 0.93 for patients overall, from 0.43 to 0.58 for VD patients, and 1.34 to 1.59 for CD patients., Conclusion: As evidenced by New York and Florida, the US has seen large reductions in major maternal complications over the past 15 years. Concurrently, the average number of comorbidities increased. These results reflect substantial improvements in maternal delivery outcomes.

Background: Readmission soon after hospital discharge is an expensive and often preventable event for patients with heart failure. We present a model approved by the National Quality Forum for the purpose of public reporting of hospital-level readmission rates by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services., Methods and Results: We developed a hierarchical logistic regression model to calculate hospital risk-standardized 30-day all-cause readmission rates for patients hospitalized with heart failure. The model was derived with the use of Medicare claims data for a 2004 cohort and validated with the use of claims and medical record data. The unadjusted readmission rate was 23.6%. The final model included 37 variables, had discrimination ranging from 15% observed 30-day readmission rate in the lowest predictive decile to 37% in the upper decile, and had a c statistic of 0.60. The 25th and 75th percentiles of the risk-standardized readmission rates across 4669 hospitals were 23.1% and 24.0%, with 5th and 95th percentiles of 22.2% and 25.1%, respectively. The odds of all-cause readmission for a hospital 1 standard deviation above average was 1.30 times that of a hospital 1 standard deviation below average. State-level adjusted readmission rates developed with the use of the claims model are similar to rates produced for the same cohort with the use of a medical record model (correlation, 0.97; median difference, 0.06 percentage points)., Conclusions: This claims-based model of hospital risk-standardized readmission rates for heart failure patients produces estimates that may serve as surrogates for those derived from a medical record model.

Background: Hospitals with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) capability may choose to predominately offer PPCI to their patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), or they may selectively offer PPCI or fibrinolytic therapy based on patient and hospital-level factors. Whether a greater level of hospital specialization with PPCI is associated with better quality of care is unknown., Methods and Results: We analyzed data from the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction-4 to compare in-hospital mortality and times to treatment in STEMI across different levels of hospital specialization with PPCI. We divided 463 hospitals into quartiles of PPCI specialization based on the relative proportion of reperfusion-treated patients who underwent PPCI (< or =34.0%, >34.0 to 62.5%, >62.5 to 88.5%, >88.5%). Hierarchical multivariable regression assessed whether PPCI specialization was associated with better outcomes, after adjusting for patient and hospital characteristics, including PPCI volume. We found that greater PPCI specialization was associated with a lower relative risk of in-hospital mortality in patients treated with PPCI (adjusted relative risk comparing the highest and lowest quartiles, 0.64; P=0.006) but not in those treated with fibrinolytic therapy. Compared with patients at hospitals in the lowest quartile of PPCI specialization, adjusted door-to-balloon times in the highest quartile were significantly shorter (99.6 versus 118.3 minutes; P<0.001), and the likelihood of door-to-balloon times exceeding 90 minutes was significantly lower (relative risk, 0.78; P<0.001). Adjusting for PPCI specialization diminished the association between PPCI volume and clinical outcomes., Conclusions: Greater specialization with PPCI is associated with lower in-hospital mortality and shorter door-to-balloon times in STEMI patients treated with PPCI.

Background: Treatment delays in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) transferred for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may decrease the advantage of this strategy over on-site fibrinolytic therapy that has been demonstrated in recent clinical trials. Accordingly, we sought to describe patterns of times to treatment in patients undergoing interhospital transfer for primary PCI in the United States., Methods and Results: We analyzed patients with STEMI undergoing interhospital transfer for primary PCI between January 1999 and December 2002 in the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction. The primary outcome was "total" door-to-balloon time measured from time of arrival at the initial hospital to time of balloon inflation at the PCI hospital. Multivariable hierarchical models were used to assess the relationship of total door-to-balloon time with patient and hospital characteristics. Among 4278 patients transferred for primary PCI at 419 hospitals, the median total door-to-balloon time was 180 minutes, with only 4.2% of patients treated within 90 minutes, the benchmark recommended by national quality guidelines. Comorbid conditions, absence of chest pain, delayed presentation after symptom onset, less specific ECG findings, and hospital presentation during off-hours were associated with longer total door-to-balloon times. Patients at teaching hospitals in rural areas also had significantly longer times to treatment., Conclusions: Total door-to-balloon times for transfer patients undergoing primary PCI in the United States rarely achieve guideline-recommended benchmarks, and current decision making should take these times into account. For the full benefits of primary PCI to be realized in transfer patients, improved systems are urgently needed to minimize total door-to-balloon times.