Thomas S. Valley

Association of Intensive Care Unit Admission With Mortality Among Older Patients With Pneumonia

IMPORTANCE Among patients whose need for intensive care is uncertain, the relationship of intensive care unit (ICU) admission with mortality and costs is unknown. OBJECTIVE To estimate the relationship between ICU admission and outcomes for elderly patients with pneumonia. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS Retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries (aged >64 years) admitted to 2988 acute care hospitals in the United States with pneumonia from 2010 to 2012. EXPOSURES ICU admission vs general ward admission. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included Medicare spending and hospital costs. Patient and hospital characteristics were adjusted to account for differences between patients with and without ICU admission. To account for unmeasured confounding, an instrumental variable was used-the differential distance to a hospital with high ICU admission (defined as any hospital in the upper 2 quintiles of ICU use). RESULTS Among 1,112,394 Medicare beneficiaries with pneumonia, 328,404 (30%) were admitted to the ICU. In unadjusted analyses, patients admitted to the ICU had significantly higher 30-day mortality, Medicare spending, and hospital costs than patients admitted to a general hospital ward. Patients (n = 553,597) living closer than the median differential distance (<3.3 miles) to a hospital with high ICU admission were significantly more likely to be admitted to the ICU than patients living farther away (n = 558,797) (36% for patients living closer vs 23% for patients living farther, P < .001). In adjusted analyses, for the 13% of patients whose ICU admission decision appeared to be discretionary (dependent only on distance), ICU admission was associated with a significantly lower adjusted 30-day mortality (14.8% for ICU admission vs 20.5% for general ward admission, P = .02; absolute decrease, -5.7% [95% CI, -10.6%, -0.9%]), yet there were no significant differences in Medicare spending or hospital costs for the hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with pneumonia, ICU admission of patients for whom the decision appeared to be discretionary was associated with improved survival and no significant difference in costs. A randomized trial may be warranted to assess whether more liberal ICU admission policies improve mortality for patients with pneumonia.

Rising Billing for Intermediate Intensive Care among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries between 1996 and 2010

RATIONALE Intermediate care (i.e., step-down or progressive care) is an alternative to the intensive care unit (ICU) for patients with moderate severity of illness. The adoption and current use of intermediate care is unknown. OBJECTIVES To characterize trends in intermediate care use among U.S. hospitals. METHODS We examined 135 million acute care hospitalizations among elderly individuals (≥65 yr) enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare (U.S. federal health insurance program) from 1996 to 2010. We identified patients receiving intermediate care as those with intensive care or coronary care room and board charges labeled intermediate ICU. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS In 1996, a total of 960 of the 3,425 hospitals providing critical care billed for intermediate care (28%), and this increased to 1,643 of 2,783 hospitals (59%) in 2010 (P < 0.01). Only 8.2% of Medicare hospitalizations in 1996 were billed for intermediate care, but billing steadily increased to 22.8% by 2010 (P < 0.01), whereas the percentage billed for ICU care and ward-only care declined. Patients billed for intermediate care had more acute organ failures diagnoses codes compared with general ward patients (22.4% vs. 15.8%). When compared with patients billed for ICU care, those billed for intermediate care had fewer organ failures (22.4% vs. 43.4%), less mechanical ventilation (0.9% vs. 16.7%), lower mean Medicare spending (

Association between Noninvasive Ventilation and Mortality among Older Patients with Pneumonia

8,514 vs.

Intensive Care Unit Admission and Survival among Older Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Heart Failure, or Myocardial Infarction

18,150), and lower 30-day mortality (5.6% vs. 16.5%) (P < 0.01 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS Intermediate care billing increased markedly between 1996 and 2010. These findings highlight the need to better define the value, specific practices, and effective use of intermediate care for patients and hospitals.

The epidemiology of sepsis: questioning our understanding of the role of race

Objective: Despite increasing use, evidence is mixed as to the appropriate use of noninvasive ventilation in patients with pneumonia. We aimed to determine the relationship between receipt of noninvasive ventilation and outcomes for patients with pneumonia in a real-world setting. Design, Setting, Patients: We performed a retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries (aged > 64 yr) admitted to 2,757 acute-care hospitals in the United States with pneumonia, who received mechanical ventilation from 2010 to 2011. Exposures: Noninvasive ventilation versus invasive mechanical ventilation. Measurement and Main Results: The primary outcome was 30-day mortality with Medicare reimbursement as a secondary outcome. To account for unmeasured confounding associated with noninvasive ventilation use, an instrumental variable was used—the differential distance to a high noninvasive ventilation use hospital. All models were adjusted for patient and hospital characteristics to account for measured differences between groups. Among 65,747 Medicare beneficiaries with pneumonia who required mechanical ventilation, 12,480 (19%) received noninvasive ventilation. Patients receiving noninvasive ventilation were more likely to be older, male, white, rural-dwelling, have fewer comorbidities, and were less likely to be acutely ill as measured by organ failures. Results of the instrumental variable analysis suggested that, among marginal patients, receipt of noninvasive ventilation was not significantly associated with differences in 30-day mortality when compared with invasive mechanical ventilation (54% vs 55%; p = 0.92; 95% CI of absolute difference, –13.8 to 12.4) but was associated with significantly lower Medicare spending (

Appraising the Evidence Supporting Choosing Wisely® Recommendations

18,433 vs

Communicating infectious disease prevalence through graphics: Results from an international survey

27,051; p = 0.02). Conclusions: Among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with pneumonia who received mechanical ventilation, noninvasive ventilation use was not associated with a real-world mortality benefit. Given the wide CIs, however, substantial harm associated with noninvasive ventilation could not be excluded. The use of noninvasive ventilation for patients with pneumonia should be cautioned, but targeted enrollment of marginal patients with pneumonia could enrich future randomized trials.

Intensive Care Unit Admission and Mortality Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Pneumonia--Reply

Rationale: Admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) may be beneficial to patients with pneumonia with uncertain ICU needs; however, evidence regarding the association between ICU admission and mortality for other common conditions is largely unknown. Objectives: To estimate the relationship between ICU admission and outcomes for hospitalized patients with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), exacerbation of heart failure (HF), or acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all acute care hospitalizations from 2010 to 2012 for U.S. fee‐for‐service Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older admitted with COPD exacerbation, HF exacerbation, or AMI. We used multivariable adjustment and instrumental variable analysis to assess each condition separately. The instrumental variable analysis used differential distance to a high ICU use hospital (defined separately for each condition) as an instrument for ICU admission to examine marginal patients whose likelihood of ICU admission depended on the hospital to which they were admitted. The primary outcome was 30‐day mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospital costs. Results: Among 1,555,798 Medicare beneficiaries with COPD exacerbation, HF exacerbation, or AMI, 486,272 (31%) were admitted to an ICU. The instrumental variable analysis found that ICU admission was not associated with significant differences in 30‐day mortality for any condition. ICU admission was associated with significantly greater hospital costs for HF (

Disruptive Technology. Can Electronic Portals Promote Communication in the Intensive Care Unit

11,793 vs.

ICU team composition and its association with ABCDE implementation in a quality collaborative

9,185, P < 0.001; absolute increase,