Paul A. Fishman

Effectiveness of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring, Web Communication, and Pharmacist Care on Hypertension Control: A Randomized Controlled Trial

CONTEXT Treating hypertension decreases mortality and disability from cardiovascular disease, but most hypertension remains inadequately controlled. OBJECTIVE To determine if a new model of care that uses patient Web services, home blood pressure (BP) monitoring, and pharmacist-assisted care improves BP control. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A 3-group randomized controlled trial, the Electronic Communications and Home Blood Pressure Monitoring study was based on the Chronic Care Model. The trial was conducted at an integrated group practice in Washington state, enrolling 778 participants aged 25 to 75 years with uncontrolled essential hypertension and Internet access. Care was delivered over a secure patient Web site from June 2005 to December 2007. INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomly assigned to usual care, home BP monitoring and secure patient Web site training only, or home BP monitoring and secure patient Web site training plus pharmacist care management delivered through Web communications. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Percentage of patients with controlled BP (<140/90 mm Hg) and changes in systolic and diastolic BP at 12 months. RESULTS Of 778 patients, 730 (94%) completed the 1-year follow-up visit. Patients assigned to the home BP monitoring and Web training only group had a nonsignificant increase in the percentage of patients with controlled BP (<140/90 mm Hg) compared with usual care (36% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 30%-42%] vs 31% [95% CI, 25%-37%]; P = .21). Adding Web-based pharmacist care to home BP monitoring and Web training significantly increased the percentage of patients with controlled BP (56%; 95% CI, 49%-62%) compared with usual care (P < .001) and home BP monitoring and Web training only (P < .001). Systolic BP was decreased stepwise from usual care to home BP monitoring and Web training only to home BP monitoring and Web training plus pharmacist care. Diastolic BP was decreased only in the pharmacist care group compared with both the usual care and home BP monitoring and Web training only groups. Compared with usual care, the patients who had baseline systolic BP of 160 mm Hg or higher and received home BP monitoring and Web training plus pharmacist care had a greater net reduction in systolic BP (-13.2 mm Hg [95% CI, -19.2 to -7.1]; P < .001) and diastolic BP (-4.6 mm Hg [95% CI, -8.0 to -1.2]; P < .001), and improved BP control (relative risk, 3.32 [95% CI, 1.86 to 5.94]; P<.001). CONCLUSION Pharmacist care management delivered through secure patient Web communications improved BP control in patients with hypertension. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00158639.

Construction and characteristics of the RxRisk-V: a VA-adapted pharmacy-based case-mix instrument.

Background. Assessment of disease burden is the key to many aspects of health care management. Patient diagnoses are commonly used for case-mix assessment. However, issues pertaining to diagnostic data availability and reliability make pharmacy-based strategies attractive. Our goal was to provide a reliable and valid pharmacy-based case-mix classification system for chronic diseases found in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) population. Objective. To detail the development and category definitions of a VA-adapted version of the RxRisk (formerly the Chronic Disease Score); to describe category prevalence and reliability; to check category criterion validity against ICD-9 diagnoses; and to assess category-specific regression coefficients in concurrent and prospective cost models. Research Design. Clinical and pharmacological review followed by cohort analysis of diagnostic, pharmacy, and utilization databases. Subjects. 126,075 veteran users of VHA services in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Methods. We used Kappa statistics to evaluate RxRisk category reliability and criterion validity, and multivariate regression to estimate concurrent and prospective cost models. Results. The RxRisk-V classified 70.5% of the VHA Northwest Network 1998 users into an average of 2.61 categories. Of the 45 classes, 33 classes had good-excellent 1-year reliability and 25 classes had good-excellent criterion validity against ICD-9 diagnoses. The RxRisk-V accounts for a distinct proportion of the variance in concurrent (R2 = 0.18) and prospective cost (R2 = 0.10) models. Conclusions. The RxRisk-V provides a reliable and valid method for administrators to describe and understand better chronic disease burden of their treated populations. Tailoring to the VHA permits assessment of disease burden specific to this population.

Intimate Partner Violence Among Men: Prevalence, Chronicity, and Health Effects

CONTEXT The breadth and depth of intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by men have not been fully documented. OBJECTIVES To describe the prevalence, chronicity, and severity of IPV, and the health outcomes associated with IPV, in adult men with healthcare insurance. DESIGN A retrospective telephone cohort study conducted from 2003 to 2005. The setting was an integrated healthcare system in Washington State and Idaho. PARTICIPANTS English-speaking men aged 18 and older (N=420) enrolled in the healthcare system for 3 or more years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Physical, psychological, and sexual IPV were assessed using five questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Health was measured using the Short Form-36, version 2 (SF-36v2) survey, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and the National Institute of Mental Health Presence of Symptoms Survey. RESULTS Men experienced IPV at a rate of 4.6% in the past year, 10.4% in the past 5 years, and 28.8% over their lifetimes. While overall rates of physical and nonphysical IPV were similar, men aged 18-55 were twice as likely to be recently abused (14.2%, SE=2.6%) than were men aged 55 and older (5.3%, SE=1.6%). Abuse was typically nonviolent or mildly violent, occurred on multiple occasions, and was initiated by only one intimate partner. Compared to men with no IPV, older men who experienced IPV had more depressive symptoms (prevalence ratios=2.61 and 2.80 for nonphysical and physical abuse) and had lower SF-36v2 mental health subscales (range=-3.21 to -5.86). CONCLUSIONS Men experience IPV at moderate rates, and poor mental health outcomes are associated with such experiences.

Cost of breast-related care in the year following false positive screening mammograms.

Objective:We sought to estimate the direct cost, from the perspective of the health insurer or purchaser, of breast-care services in the year following a false positive screening mammogram compared with a true negative examination. Design:We identified 21,125 women aged 40 to 80 years enrolled in an integrated healthcare delivery system in Washington State, who participated in screening mammography between January 1, 1998 and July 30, 2002. Pathology and cancer registry data were used to identify breast cancer diagnoses in the year following the screening mammogram. A positive examination was defined as a Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System assessment of 0, 4, or 5. Women with a positive screening mammogram but no breast cancer diagnosed within 1 year were classified as false positives. We used diagnostic and procedure codes in automated health plan data to identify services received in the year following the screening mammogram. Medicare reimbursement rates were applied to all services. We used ordinary least-squares linear regression to estimate the difference in costs following a false positive versus true negative screening mammogram. Results:False positive results occurred in 9.9% of women; most false positives (87.3%) were followed by breast imaging only. The mean cost of breast-care following a false positive mammogram was

Patient Ability and Willingness to Participate in a Web-Based Intervention to Improve Hypertension Control

527. This was

Spreading a Medical Home Redesign: Effects on Emergency Department Use and Hospital Admissions

503 (95% confidence interval,

Changes in Health Care Costs over Time Following the Cessation of Intimate Partner Violence

490–

Case‐Mix Adjusting Performance Measures in a Veteran Population: Pharmacy‐ and Diagnosis‐Based Approaches

515) more than the cost of breast-care services for true negative women. Conclusions:The direct costs for breast-related procedures following false positive screening mammograms may contribute substantially to US healthcare spending.

Using Body Mass Index Data in the Electronic Health Record to Calculate Cardiovascular Risk

Background Patient-shared electronic health records provide opportunities for care outside of office visits. However, those who might benefit may be unable to or choose not to use these resources, while others might not need them. Objective Electronic Communications and Home Blood Pressure Monitoring (e-BP) was a randomized trial that demonstrated that Web-based pharmacist care led to improved blood pressure (BP) control. During recruitment we attempted to contact all patients with hypertension from 10 clinics to determine whether they were eligible and willing to participate. We wanted to know whether particular subgroups, particularly those from vulnerable populations, were less willing to participate or unable to because they lacked computer access. Methods From 2005 to 2006, we sent invitation letters to and attempted to recruit 9298 patients with hypertension. Eligibility to participate in the trial included access to a computer and the Internet, an email address, and uncontrolled BP (BP ≥ 140/90 mmHg). Generalized linear models within a modified Poisson regression framework were used to estimate the relative risk (RR) of ineligibility due to lack of computer access and of having uncontrolled BP. Results We were able to contact 95.1% (8840/9298) of patients. Those refusing participation (3032/8840, 34.3%) were significantly more likely (P < .05) to be female, be nonwhite, have lower levels of education, and have Medicaid insurance. Among patients who answered survey questions, 22.8% (1673/7354) did not have computer access. Older age, minority race, and lower levels of education were risk factors for lack of computer access, with education as the strongest predictor (RR 2.63, 95% CI 2.30-3.01 for those with a high school degree compared to a college education). Among hypertensive patients with computer access who were willing to participate, African American race (RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.06-1.40), male sex (RR 1.28, 95% CI 1.18-1.38), and obesity (RR 1.53, 95% CI 1.31-1.79) were risk factors for uncontrolled BP. Conclusion Older age, lower socioeconomic status, and lower levels of education were associated with decreased access to and willingness to participate in a Web-based intervention to improve hypertension control. Failure to ameliorate this may worsen health care disparities. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00158639; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00158639 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5v1jnHaeo)

Changes in Office Visit Use Associated With Electronic Messaging and Telephone Encounters Among Patients With Diabetes in the PCMH

PURPOSE The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is being rapidly deployed in many settings to strengthen US primary care, improve quality, and control costs; however, evidence supporting this transformation is still lacking. We describe the Group Health experience in attempting to replicate the effects on health care use seen in a PCMH prototype clinic via a systemwide spread using Lean as the change strategy. METHODS We used an interrupted time series analysis with a patient-month unit of analysis over a 4-year period that included baseline, implementation, and stabilization periods for 412,943 patients. To account for secular trends across these periods, we compared changes in use of face-to-face primary care visits, emergency department visits, and inpatient admissions with those of a nonequivalent comparison group of patients served by community network practices. RESULTS After accounting for secular trends among network patients, patients empaneled to the PCMH clinics had 5.1% and 6.7% declines in primary care office visits in early and later stabilization years, respectively, after the implementation year. This trend was accompanied by a 123% increase in the use of secure electronic message threads and a 20% increase in telephone encounters. Declines were also seen in emergency department visits at 1 and 2 years (13.7% and 18.5%) compared with what would be expected based on secular trends in network practices. No statistically significant changes were found for hospital admissions. CONCLUSIONS The Group Health experience shows it is possible to reduce emergency department use with PCMH transformation across a diverse set of clinics using a clear change strategy (Lean) and sufficient resources and supports.