Jayasree Basu

Nurse Staffing and Postsurgical Adverse Events: An Analysis of Administrative Data from a Sample of U.S. Hospitals, 1990–1996

OBJECTIVE To examine the impact of nurse staffing on selected adverse events hypothesized to be sensitive to nursing care between 1990 and 1996, after controlling for hospital characteristics. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING The yearly cross-sectional samples of hospital discharges for states participating in the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 1990-1996 were combined to form the analytic sample. Six states were included for 1990-1992, four states were added for the period 1993-1994, and three additional states were added in 1995-1996. STUDY DESIGN The study design was cross-sectional descriptive. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS Data for patients aged 18 years and older who were discharged between 1990 and 1996 were used to create hospital-level adverse event indicators. Hospital-level adverse event data were defined by quality indicators developed by the Health Care Utilization Project (HCUP). These data were matched to American Hospital Association (AHA) data on community hospital characteristics, including registered nurse (RN) and licensed practical/vocational nurse (LPN) staffing hours, to examine the relationship between nurse staffing and four postsurgical adverse events: venous thrombosis/pulmonary embolism, pulmonary compromise after surgery, urinary tract infection, and pneumonia. Multivariate modeling using Poisson regression techniques was used. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS An inverse relationship was found between RN hours per adjusted inpatient day and pneumonia (p < .05) for routine and emergency patient admissions. CONCLUSIONS The inverse relationship between pneumonia and nurse staffing are consistent with previous findings in the literature. The results provide additional evidence for health policy makers to consider when making decisions about required staffing levels to minimize adverse events.

The Rate and Cost of Hospital Readmissions for Preventable Conditions

The study estimates the rate and cost of preventable readmissions within 6 months after a first preventable admission, by age-group, and by payer and race within age-group. The descriptive results are contrasted with several hypotheses. The hospital discharge data are for residents of New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin in 1999, from files of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. About 19 percent of persons with an initial preventable admission had at least one preventable readmission rate within 6 months. Hospital cost for preventable readmissions during 6 months was about

Severity of Illness, Race, and Choice of Local Versus Distant Hospitals Among the Elderly

730 million. There were substantial differences in readmission rates by payer group and by race. Some evidence suggests that preventable readmissions may partly reflect complexity of underlying problems. Interventions to reduce cost might focus on identifying high-risk patients before discharge and devising new approaches to follow-up.

Preventable illness and out-of-area travel of children in New York counties.

This study examines travel patterns for hospitalization among elderly patients to address whether there are differences by age and race/ethnicity, and whether the differences persist even when a severe illness occurs. Using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient database (SID) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the study focuses on New York residents in the 65-and-over age group who are hospitalized in New York or neighboring states. Two types of hospital admissions are used: referral-sensitive admissions (fairly discretionary, high-technology procedures) and ambulatory care–sensitive admissions (avoidable with appropriate primary care). The study found that, after adjusting for other covariates, travel progressively declines with age among the elderly. Travel patterns across elderly age cohorts were not significantly different when patients were more severely ill. Members of racial/ethnic minority groups were less likely to travel than whites, and this gap persisted even when a severe illness occurred.

Do HMOs Reduce Preventable Hospitalizations for Medicare Beneficiaries

The long-distance travellers could be important to any cost-benefit assessment of policies to increase or improve local resources. This study examines the out-of-area hospital admission pattern for patients with Ambulatory Care Sensitive (ACS) conditions, also known as preventable conditions. The availability of local resources play a significant role for hospitalization for these conditions. Despite a growing literature investigating hospital choice, little is known about the effects of resource availabilities in local areas and patient characteristics prompting people to seek care at a longer distance from home for these conditions. Based on hospital discharge data for New York residents (children) admitted to hospitals in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Connecticut in 1994, the study uses logistic regression to predict travel out of the local area for ACS admission. The actual distance between residence and hospital is a highly skewed and problematic measure, but the crossing of county boundaries is a related and very useful dichotomous measure of distant hospitalization. The study finds a strong association of types of insurance and availability of primary care with episodes of hospitalization for children outside the area of residence, after controlling for severity of illness and several other patient and county characteristics.

Impact of Local Resources on Hospitalization Patterns of Medicare Beneficiaries and Propensity to Travel Outside Local Markets

This study assesses the association of HMO enrollment with preventable hospitalizations among the elderly in four states. Using 2001 hospital discharge abstracts for elderly Medicare enrollees (age 65 and above) residing in four states (New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and California), from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP-SID) database of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, we use a multivariate cross-sectional design with patient-level data for each state. Holding other factors such as demographics and illness severity constant, we find that in three out of four states, Medicare HMO patients had lower odds of a preventable admission versus marker admission than Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) patients. Moreover, in the two states with longest tenure and greatest Medicare HMO penetration, California and Florida, the reduction in preventable admissions among Medicare HMO patients was mainly concentrated among more ill patients. These findings add to the evidence that managed care outperforms traditional care among the elderly, rather than simply skimming off the healthiest populations.

Hospital Readmission Rates in U.S. States: Are Readmissions Higher Where More Patients with Multiple Chronic Conditions Cluster?

PURPOSE To examine how local health care resources impact travel patterns of patients age 65 and older across the rural urban continuum. METHODS Information on inpatient hospital discharges was drawn from complete 2004 hospital discharge files from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases (SID) for New York, California, and Florida, and the 2003 hospital discharge file for Pennsylvania. The study population was Medicare patients with admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. Analysis was at the patient-level, and area contextual variables were developed at the Primary Care Service Area (PCSA) level. Local resources considered included inpatient supply, provider supply, supply of international medical graduates, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) in the patients PCSA. FINDINGS Findings generally confirmed enhanced retention of the elderly in local markets with greater availability of community resources, although we observed considerable heterogeneity across states. Community resource variables such as median household income or inpatient hospital capacity were stronger and more consistent predictors along the urban rural continuum than any of the provider or CAH variables. Only in California and New York did we see significant effects for provider supply or CAH, but they were robust across the 2 states and models of travel propensity, always reducing the travel propensity. CONCLUSIONS Findings support policies aimed at augmenting supplies of critical access hospitals in rural communities, and increasing primary care physicians and hospital resources in both rural and urban communities.

The Small Area Predictors of Ambulatory Care Sensitive Hospitalizations: A Comparison of Changes over Time

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE This study examines small area variations in readmission rates to assess whether higher readmission rate in an area is associated with higher clusters of patients with multiple chronic conditions. STUDY DESIGN The study uses hospital discharge data of adult (18+) patients in 6 U.S. states for 2009 from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, linked to contextual and provider data from Health Resources and Services Administration. A multivariate cross sectional design at primary care service area (PCSA) level is used. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Adjusting for area characteristics, the readmission rates were significantly higher in PCSAs having higher proportions of patients with 2-3 chronic conditions and those with 4+ chronic conditions, compared with areas with a higher concentration of patients with 0-1 chronic conditions. CONCLUSIONS Using small area analysis, the study shows that areas with higher concentration of patients with increased comorbid conditions are more likely to have higher readmission rates.

Medicare managed care and primary care quality: examining racial/ethnic effects across states

The hospital admission for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) is a validated indicator of impeded access to good primary and preventive care services. The authors examine the predictors of ACSC admissions in small geographic areas in two cross-sections spanning an 11-year time interval (1995–2005). Using hospital discharge data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York for the years 1995 and 2005, the study includes a multivariate cross-sectional design, using compositional factors describing the hospitalized populations and the contextual factors, all aggregated at the primary care service area level. The study uses ordinary least squares regressions with and without state fixed effects, adjusting for heteroscedasticity. Data is pooled over 2 years to assess the statistically significant changes in associations over time. ACSC admission rates were inversely related to the availability of local primary care physicians, and managed care was associated with declines in ACSC admissions for the elderly. Minorities, aged elderly, and percent under federal poverty level were found to be associated with higher ACSC rates. The comparative analysis for 2 years highlights significant declines in the association with ACSC rates of several factors including percent minorities and rurality. The two policy-driven factors, primary care physician capacity and Medicare-managed care penetration, were not found significantly more effective over time. Using small area analysis, the study indicates that improvements in socioeconomic conditions and geographic access may have helped improve the quality of primary care received by the elderly over the last decade, particularly among some minority groups.

Changes in preventable hospitalization patterns among the adults: a small area analysis of US states.

The study assesses the role of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in providing quality primary care in comparison to FFS Medicare in three states, New York, California, Florida, across three racial ethnic groups. The performance is measured in terms of providing better quality primary care, as defined by lowering the risks of preventable hospital admissions. Using 2004 hospital discharge data (HCUP-SID) of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for three states, a multivariate cross sectional design is used with individual admission as the unit of analysis. The study found that MA plans were associated with lower preventable hospitalizations relative to marker admissions. The benefit also spilled over to different racial and ethnic subgroups and in some states, e.g. CA and FL, MA enrollment was associated with significantly lower odds of minority admissions than of white admissions. These results may indicate a potentially favorable role of MA plans in attenuating racial/ethnic inequalities in primary care in some states.