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Author(s): Sorensen, Andrea; Grotts, Jonathan F; Tseng, Chi-Hong; Moreno, Gerardo; Maranon, Richard; Whitmire, Natalie; Viramontes, Omar; Atkins, Sandy; Sefilyan, Ester; Simmons, June W; Mangione, Carol M | Abstract: Background/objectivesMedication discrepancies and adverse drug events are common following hospital discharge. This study evaluates whether a collaboration between community-based health coaches and primary care-based pharmacists was associated with a reduction in inpatient utilization following hospitalization.DesignRetrospective cohort study using propensity score matching.SettingUrban academic medical center and surrounding community.ParticipantsIntervention patients (n = 494) were adults aged 65 and older admitted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Ronald Reagan Medical Center during the study period and who met study inclusion criteria. A matched-control group was composed of patients with similar demographic and clinical characteristics who were admitted to the study site during the study period but who received usual care (n = 2,470). A greedy algorithm approach was used to conduct the propensity score match.InterventionFollowing acute hospitalization, a health coach conducted a home visit and transmitted all medication-related information to a pharmacist based in a primary care practice. The pharmacist compared this information with the patient's electronic medical record medication list and consulted with the patient's primary care provider to optimize medication management.MeasurementsThirty-day readmissions (primary outcome), 60- and 90-day readmissions, and 30-day emergency department (ED) visits (secondary outcomes) to UCLA Health.ResultsAmong 494 patients who received the intervention, 307 (62.1%) were female with a mean age of 83.0 years (interquartile range [IQR] = 76-90 years). Among 2,470 matched-control patients, 1,541 (62.4%) were female with a mean age of 82.7 years (IQR = 74.9-89.5 years). For the propensity score match, standardized mean differences were below .1 for 23 of 25 variables, indicating good balance. Patients who received this intervention had a significantly lower predicted probability of being readmitted within 30 days compared with matched-control patients (10.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.9-13.2) vs 21.4%; 95% CI = 19.8-23.0; P value l .001).ConclusionA home visit conducted by a health coach combined with a medication review by a primary care-based pharmacist may prevent subsequent inpatient utilization.

IntroductionRobust randomised trial data have shown that routine preoperative (pre-op) testing for cataract surgery patients is inappropriate. While guidelines have discouraged testing since 2002, cataract pre-op testing rates have remained unchanged since the 1990s. Given the challenges of reducing low-value care despite strong consensus around the evidence, innovative approaches are needed to promote high-value care. This trial evaluates the impact of an interdisciplinary electronic health record (EHR) intervention that is informed by behavioural economic theory.Methods and analysisThis pragmatic randomised trial is being conducted at UCLA Health between June 2021 and June 2022 with a 12-month follow-up period. We are randomising all UCLA Health physicians who perform pre-op visits during the study period to one of the three nudge arms or usual care. These three nudge alerts address (1) patient harm, (2) increased out-of-pocket costs for patients and (3) psychological harm to the patients related to pre-op testing. The nudges are triggered when a physician starts to order a pre-op test. We hypothesise that receipt of a nudge will be associated with reduced pre-op testing. The primary outcome will be the change in the percentage of patients undergoing pre-op testing at 12 months. Secondary outcomes will include the percentage of patients undergoing specific categories of pre-op tests (labs, EKGs, chest X-rays (CXRs)), the efficacy of each nudge, same-day surgery cancellations and cost savings.Ethics and disseminationThe study protocol was approved by the institutional review board of the University of California, Los Angeles as well as a nominated Data Safety Monitoring Board. If successful, we will have created a tool that can be disseminated rapidly to EHR vendors across the nation to reduce inappropriate testing for the most common low-risk surgical procedures in the country.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04104256.

Among patients with Alzheimer’s disease and its related dementias (ADRD) with behavioral disturbances, antipsychotic prescriptions have limited efficacy and increase the risk of death. Yet, physicians continue to routinely prescribe low-value antipsychotic medications for behavioral disturbances among patients with ADRD. We designed a pragmatic randomized-controlled trial to measure the impact of a behavioral economic electronic health record (EHR) clinical decision support (CDS) intervention to reduce physician prescriptions of new antipsychotic medications among patients with ADRD. Utilizing a pragmatic parallel arm randomized-controlled trial design, the study will randomize eligible physicians from a large academic health system to either receive a EHR CDS intervention or not (control) when they prescribe a new antipsychotic medication during visits with patients with ADRD. The intervention will include three components: 1) alerts prescribers that antipsychotic prescriptions increase mortality risk (motivating physicians’ intrinsic desire for non-malfeasance); 2) offers non-pharmacological behavioral resources for caregivers; 3) auto-defaults the prescription to contain the lowest dose and number of pill-days (n = 30) without refills if the prescriber does not cancel the order (appealing to default bias). Over 1 year, we will compare the cumulative total of new antipsychotic pill-days prescribed (primary outcome) by physicians in the intervention group versus in the control group. The study protocol meets international SPIRIT guidelines. Behavioral economics, or the study of human behavior as a function of more than rational incentives, considering a whole host of cognitive and social psychological preferences, tendencies, and biases, is increasingly recognized as an important conceptual framework to improve physician behavior. This pragmatic trial is among the first to combine two distinct behavioral economic principles, a desire for non-malfeasance and default bias, to improve physician prescribing patterns for patients with ADRD. We anticipate this trial will substantially advance understanding of how behavioral-economic informed EHR CDS tools can potentially reduce harmful, low-value care among patients with ADRD.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rapid adoption of telemedicine. Health systems nationwide moved quickly to scale their telemedicine capabilities, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other payers expanded reimbursement for telehealth visits.1 While widely lauded as a means to improve value of care, telemedicine may exacerbate disparities in health care access.2 In this study, we describe the increased adoption of telemedicine at a large academic health system since the pandemic and examine our hypothesis that this increase is associated with widening racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences in access to care.

While multifaceted post-hospitalization interventions can succeed in preventing hospital readmissions, many of these interventions are labor-intensive and costly. We hypothesized that a timely post-discharge primary care physician (PCP) visit alone might prevent hospital readmission. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to assess whether post-hospitalization PCP visits within 14 days of discharge were associated with lower rates of 30-day hospital readmission. In a secondary analysis we also assessed: whether visits with a PCP at 7-days post-discharge changed rates of hospital readmissions and whether post-hospitalization PCP visits were associated with decreased 90-day hospital readmissions. We included all adults with a PCP who were discharged from an inpatient medical service in a large, urban integrated academic health system from January 1, 2019 to September 9, 2019 in our analysis. We performed unadjusted bivariate analyses to measure the associations between having a PCP visit within 14 and 7 days of discharge and hospital readmission within 30 and 90 days. Then we constructed multivariate logistic regression models including patient medical and utilization characteristics to estimate the adjusted odds of a patient with a post-hospitalization PCP visit experiencing a 30-day hospital readmission (primary outcome) and 90-day readmission (secondary outcome). A total of 9236 patients were discharged; mean age was 57.9 years and 59.7% were female. Of the study population, 35.6% (n = 3284) and 24.1% (n = 2224) of patients had a post-hospitalization PCP visit within 14 days and or 7 days, respectively. Overall, 1259 (13.6%) and 2153 (23.3%) of discharged patients were readmitted at 30 and 90 days, respectively. In unadjusted analyses, having a post discharge PCP visit was not associated with decreased hospital readmission rates, but after adjusting for sociodemographic, medical and utilization characteristics, having a post-hospitalization PCP visit at 14 and 7 days was associated with lower hospital readmission rates at 30 days: 0.68 (95% CI 0.59-0.79) and 0.76 (95% CI 0.66-0.89), respectively; and 90 days: 0.76 (95% CI 0.68-0.85) and 0.80 (95% CI 0.70-0.91), respectively. In this large integrated urban academic health system, having a post-hospitalization PCP visit within 14- and 7-days of hospital discharge was associated with lower rates of readmission at 30 and 90 days. Further studies should examine whether improving access to PCP visits post hospitalization reduces readmissions rates.

The landscape of deprescribing, the planned process of dose reduction or stoppage for medications which are no longer of benefit, has been rapidly expanding with global efforts and the formation of regional and national deprescribing networks. The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe successes and challenges about deprescribing from thought-leaders across the world to inform future policy initiatives. We aim to conduct at least 15 key informant (KI) interviews; we have completed 13 to date. Codes were constructed to identify themes that depict the perspectives regarding deprescribing policy across the globe. The KIs primarily represent the fields of pharmacy and medicine from four global regions with years of deprescribing experience ranging from 5 to > 20. We identified two emerging overarching themes through our qualitative analysis: Regional Organization Support and Evidence & Knowledge gaps. Within these overarching themes, we further identified sub-themes and their representative quotes: Network Structure: “idea of the network was threefold: 1) To try and figure out what we need to activate healthcare providers to deprescribe; 2) To do work with community-dwelling seniors to motivate them and give them opportunities to deprescribe; 3) ...getting pharmacists to provide the education to the patients.” Cost-effectiveness: “If we can show that it is cost-effective to deprescribe, that there is actually a return here, not just in health terms but in monetary terms, I think that would really push it along.” This research will help to advance global efforts to optimize medication management.

ImportanceElectronic health record (EHR) clinical decision support (CDS) tools can provide evidence-based feedback at the point of care to reduce low-value imaging. Success of these tools has been limited partly due to lack of engagement by busy clinicians.ObjectiveMeasure the impact of a time-saving quality improvement intervention to increase engagement with a CDS tool for low back pain imaging ordering.Design, setting and participantsWe conducted a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences analysis at (BLINDED), examining back pain imaging orders from 29 May 2015 to 07 January 2016. The intervention site was (BLINDED) Emergency Medicine/Urgent Care Center (n=5736) and control sites included all other (BLINDED) hospitals and clinics (n=1621). In May 2015, the Department of Health Services installed a CDS tool that triggered a survey when clinicians ordered an imaging test, generating an ‘appropriateness score’ based on the American College of Radiology guidelines. Clinicians often bypassed the tool, resulting in ‘unscored’ tests.InterventionTo increase clinician engagement with the tool and decrease the rate of unscored imaging tests, a new policy was implemented at the intervention site on 15 August 2015. If clinicians completed the CDS survey and scored an appropriateness score >3, they could forego a previously mandatory telephone call for pre-imaging utilisation review with the radiology department.Main outcomes and measuresWe used EHR data to measure pre–post-intervention differences in: (1) percentage of unscored tests and (2) percentage of tests with high appropriateness scores (>7).ResultsPercentage of unscored tests decreased from 69.4% to 10.4% at the intervention site and from 50.6% to 34.8% at the control sites (between-group difference: −23.3%, pConclusionWorkflow time-saving interventions may increase physician engagement with CDS tools and have potential to improve practice patterns.

A growing literature in experimental economics examines the conditions under which cooperation can be sustained in social-dilemma settings. In particular, several recent studies contrast cooperation levels in games in which the number of decision rounds is probabilistic to games in which the number of decision rounds is finite. We contribute to this literature by contrasting the evolution of cooperation in probabilistically and finitely repeated linear voluntary-contribution public-goods games (VCM). Consistent with past results, ceteris paribus, cooperation is found to increase in the marginal value of the public good. Additionally, as the number of decision sequences increases, there is a pronounced decrease in cooperation in the final round of finite sequences compared to those with a probabilistic end round. We do not, however, find consistent evidence that overall cooperation rates are affected by whether the number of decision rounds is finite or determined probabilistically.

IMPACT: This project demonstrates that addressing low-value care, which has the potential to cause patient harm, relies on novel data tools and collaboration between health system and research stakeholders. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Reducing low-value care, or patient care that offers no net benefit in specific clinical scenarios, is an important approach to improving value as it can simultaneously lower health care spending and improve quality. We describe an initiative to identify such care in a large statewide employer. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Claims data for self-funded University of California (UC) Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan members during 2019 were abstracted from the University of California Health (UCH) Clinical Data Warehouse, a unique central database that includes electronic medical record data from >5 million patients across UC medical campuses and all claims from UC self-funded health plans. UCH spans six academic health systems across California. The Milliman MedInsight Health Waste Calculator, a proprietary algorithm-based software tool, was used to identify low-value care and estimate associated spending. The HWC measures 48 low-value services using recommendations from the Choosing Wisely Campaign, the US Preventive Services Task Force, and other clinical specialty guidelines. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Of 43,882 members of the UC PPO, 11,174 (25.4%) received at least one low-value service. The HWC identified 50,103 eligible services and classified 35% as low-value. Total spending on low-value services ranged between $2,209,516 and $5,089,866, based on a more or less conservative estimate. Across the five sites, the proportion of low-value services ranged from 31% to 39%. Five services comprised 65% of costs from low-value care: annual EKGs, preoperative baseline labs for low-risk surgeries, vitamin D deficiency screening, imaging for eye disease, and headache imaging. The top five services by order frequency were annual EKGs, vitamin D tests, preoperative labs, antibiotics for upper respiratory infections, and imaging for eye disease. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: Low-value care is prevalent and costly within a large statewide employer. Collaborative multidisciplinary partnerships between employers, health systems, informatics, and researchers can leverage existing data to identify opportunities for improving the value of care for covered populations.

IMPACT: These findings identify a new way in which the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates racial/ethnic health disparities, and will thus direct future research to explore potentially avoidable hospitalizations, as well as direct health policy to improve the value of this specific aspect of care without further widening the disparity. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Racial and ethnic disparities in potentially avoidable hospitalizations predate COVID-19. In order to identify and address healthcare disparities exacerbated by the pandemic, we examined whether and to what extent the pandemic affected numbers of potentially avoidable hospitalizations by race and ethnicity. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This single-center pre-post study of 904 patients at UCLA included all patients admitted to an internal medicine service for an ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC) between March-August of 2020 (post) and March-August of 2019 (pre). We measured the change in number of potentially avoidable hospitalizations (defined per the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality guidelines) stratified by race and ethnicity. We calculated 95% CIs for the number of potentially avoidable hospitalizations using a cluster bootstrap procedure, clustering at the level of patients. We inverted the bootstrap CIs to calculate p-values for overall changes within racial/ethnic groups as well as differential changes between groups. Patients with missing or unspecified racial/ethnic data were excluded (n=1,003; 7.8%). RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Between March 1 and August 31, 2020, 347 out of 4,838 hospitalizations (7.2%) were potentially avoidable, compared to 557 out of 6,248 (8.9%) during the same 6-months of 2019. Reductions in potentially avoidable hospitalizations among Non-Hispanic White (-50.3%; 95% CI, -60.9 - -41.2; p

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands access to health insurance in the United States, and, to date, an estimated 20 million previously uninsured individuals have gained coverage. Understanding the law's impact on coverage, access, utilization, and health outcomes, especially among low-income populations, is critical to informing ongoing debates about its effectiveness and implementation. Early findings indicate that there have been significant reductions in the rate of uninsurance among the poor and among those who live in Medicaid expansion states. In addition, the law has been associated with increased health care access, affordability, and use of preventive and outpatient services among low-income populations, though impacts on inpatient utilization and health outcomes have been less conclusive. Although these early findings are generally consistent with past coverage expansions, continued monitoring of these domains is essential to understand the long-term impact of the law for underserved populations.

In California, personal health care expenditures are estimated to total more than $367 billion in 2016. Approximately 71 percent of these expenditures will be paid for with public funds (i.e., taxpayer dollars). This estimated contribution of public funds to health care expenditures is much higher than estimates that include only major health insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Several additional public funding sources also contribute to health care expenditures in the state, including government spending for public employee health benefits, tax subsidies for employer-sponsored insurance and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance exchange, and county health care expenditures. As health care reform continues to take effect, it will be important to monitor the public versus private contributions to state health care expenditures to ensure that funds are being distributed both efficiently and equitably.

OBJECTIVE: To compare distributions of human rights violations and disease risk; to juxtapose these patterns against demographic and structural environmental variables, and to formulate implications for structural interventions. METHODS: Female sex workers who inject drugs were surveyed in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Structured interviews and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were conducted (October 2008 to October 2009). Frequencies of individual and environmental factors, including police abuse, risk of HIV infection, and protective behaviors, were compared between sites using univariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 624 women, almost half reported police syringe confiscation despite syringes being legal; 55.6% reported extortion (past 6 months), with significantly higher proportions in Ciudad Juarez (P < 0.001). Reports of recent solicitation of sexual favors (28.5% in Tijuana, 36.5% in Ciudad Juarez, P = 0.04) and sexual abuse (15.7% in Tijuana, 18.3% in Ciudad Juarez) by police were commonplace. Prevalence of STIs was significantly lower in Tijuana than in Ciudad Juarez (64.2% and 83.4%, P < 0.001), paralleling the lower prevalence of sexual risk behaviors there. Ciudad Juarez respondents reported significantly higher median number of monthly clients (6.8 versus 1.5, P < 0.001) and lower median pay per sex act (US$ 10 versus US$ 20, P < 0.001) (in the past month). Relative to Tijuana, security deployment, especially the army's presence, was perceived to have increased more in Ciudad Juarez in the past year (72.1% versus 59.2%, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Collateral damage from police practices in the context of Mexico's drug conflict may affect public health in the Northern Border Region. Itinerant officers may facilitate disease spread beyond the region. The urgency for mounting structural interventions is discussed.OBJETIVO: Comparar las distribuciones de las violaciones a los derechos humanos y el riesgo de enfermedades; yuxtaponer los patrones obtenidos con las variables demográficas y estructurales del entorno, y formular las implicaciones de llevar a cabo intervenciones estructurales. MÉTODOS: Se entrevistaron trabajadoras del sexo que consumían drogas inyectables en Tijuana y Ciudad Juárez, México. Entre octubre del 2008 y octubre del 2009 se llevaron a cabo entrevistas estructuradas y pruebas para detectar infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS). Se compararon entre las dos ciudades las frecuencias de factores individuales y ambientales, como el abuso policial, el riesgo de infección por el VIH y las conductas protectoras, usando regresión logística de una sola variable. RESULTADOS: De 624 mujeres, casi la mitad comunicaron la confiscación de jeringas por la policía a pesar de que es legal poseerlas; 55,6% informaron extorsión (en los últimos 6 meses), con proporciones significativamente mayores en Ciudad Juárez (P < 0,001). Los informes de solicitación reciente de favores sexuales (28,5% en Tijuana, 36,5% en Ciudad Juárez, P = 0,04) y de abuso sexual (15,7% en Tijuana, 18,3% en Ciudad Juárez) por la policía fueron comunes. La prevalencia de ITS fue significativamente menor en Tijuana que en Ciudad Juárez (64,2% y 83,4%, P < 0,001), en forma análoga a la menor prevalencia de conductas sexuales de riesgo en la primera ciudad. Las mujeres entrevistadas en Ciudad Juárez informaron una mediana del número de clientes mensual significativamente mayor (6,8 frente a 1,5, P < 0,001) y una mediana del pago por acto sexual menor (US$ 10 frente a US$ 20, P < 0,001) en el último mes. En el último año, las mujeres entrevistadas percibieron un mayor aumento del despliegue de seguridad, especialmente la presencia del ejército, en Ciudad Juárez que en Tijuana (72,1% frente a 59,2%, P = 0,001). CONCLUSIONES: Los daños colaterales derivados de las prácticas policiales en el contexto del conflicto de narcotráfico de México pueden afectar a la salud pública en la región de la frontera norte de México. Los oficiales itinerantes pueden facilitar la propagación de enfermedades más allá de la región. Se analiza la urgencia para establecer intervenciones estructurales.

OBJECTIVE: To compare distributions of human rights violations and disease risk; to juxtapose these patterns against demographic and structural environmental variables, and to formulate implications for structural interventions. METHODS: Female sex workers who inject drugs were surveyed in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Structured interviews and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were conducted (October 2008 to October 2009). Frequencies of individual and environmental factors, including police abuse, risk of HIV infection, and protective behaviors, were compared between sites using univariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 624 women, almost half reported police syringe confiscation despite syringes being legal; 55.6% reported extortion (past 6 months), with significantly higher proportions in Ciudad Juarez (P < 0.001). Reports of recent solicitation of sexual favors (28.5% in Tijuana, 36.5% in Ciudad Juarez, P = 0.04) and sexual abuse (15.7% in Tijuana, 18.3% in Ciudad Juarez) by police were commonplace. Prevalence of STIs was significantly lower in Tijuana than in Ciudad Juarez (64.2% and 83.4%, P < 0.001), paralleling the lower prevalence of sexual risk behaviors there. Ciudad Juarez respondents reported significantly higher median number of monthly clients (6.8 versus 1.5, P < 0.001) and lower median pay per sex act (US$ 10 versus US$ 20, P < 0.001) (in the past month). Relative to Tijuana, security deployment, especially the army's presence, was perceived to have increased more in Ciudad Juarez in the past year (72.1% versus 59.2%, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Collateral damage from police practices in the context of Mexico's drug conflict may affect public health in the Northern Border Region. Itinerant officers may facilitate disease spread beyond the region. The urgency for mounting structural interventions is discussed.

Background Immediate postabortal intrauterine device (IUD) insertion decreases rates of repeat abortions. However, only one third of high-volume, non-hospital abortion providers in the United States offer immediate postabortal IUD placement. Study Design We conducted a cost analysis from a public payer perspective to evaluate the potential cost savings associated with a policy of immediate postabortal IUD insertion, compared to planned IUD insertion at the time of abortion follow up. Sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulation were performed. Results Considering only direct costs of contraception and pregnancy-related care over 1 year, immediate postabortal IUD provision decreases public program expenditures by US$111 per woman compared to planned IUD placement at follow up. Over 5 years, the savings increases to $4296 per woman, when public health and social program costs are also considered. Conclusion Immediate postabortal IUD insertion is cost saving from a public payer perspective, compared to planned insertion at the time of follow up. These savings are seen over a wide range of model inputs.

Introduction Potentially avoidable hospitalizations are disproportionately experienced by racial and ethnic minorities and expose these groups to unnecessary iatrogenic harm (including the risk of nosocomial COVID-19) and undue financial burden. In working toward an overarching goal of eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities, it is important to understand whether and to what extent potentially avoidable hospitalizations have changed by race and ethnicity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This single-center pre–post study included patients admitted to any UCLA Health hospital for an ambulatory care–sensitive condition between March–August 2019 (prepandemic period) and March–August 2020 (postpandemic period). Investigators measured the change in the number of potentially avoidable hospitalizations (defined per the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality guidelines) stratified by race and ethnicity and calculated the 95% CIs for these hospitalizations using a cluster bootstrap procedure. Results Between March 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020, 347 of 4,838 hospitalizations (7.2%) were potentially avoidable, compared with 557 of 6,248 (8.9%) during the same 6-month period in 2019. Potentially avoidable hospitalizations decreased by 50.3% (95% CI=41.2, 60.9) among non-Hispanic Whites but only by 8.0% (95% CI= −16.2, 39.9) among African Americans (50.3% vs 8.0%, p=0.015). Conclusions Racial disparities in potentially avoidable hospitalizations increased during the COVID-19 pandemic at a large urban health system. Given that the prepandemic rates of potentially avoidable hospitalizations were already higher among racial and ethnic minorities, especially among African Americans, this finding should cause alarm and lead to further exploration of the complex factors contributing to these disparities.