Cardiodiabesity: Epidemiology, resource and economic impact.

Objective: To assess i) the epidemiology of cardiodiabesity, ii) its association with healthcare resource utilization and cost of care, as well as iii) provide recommendations for its management.

Methods: A cohort study of insured adults with early-stage and/or active cardiodiabesity from January 2019 to December 2021 identified through a longitudinal, and de-identified medical and pharmacy claims database was conducted. All patients were followed for one year through December 2022.

Perioperative care map improves compliance with best practices for the morbidly obese.

Background: Morbid obesity can complicate perioperative management. Best practice guidelines have been published but are typically followed only in bariatric patients. Little is known regarding physician awareness of and compliance with these clinical recommendations for nonbariatric operations.

The impact of certified diabetes educators on diabetes performance and variation among primary care sites within an integrated health system.

Objectives: Primary care networks within integrated health systems can experience significant variation in diabetes care. We studied an established, 20-site network to determine the impact of a quality improvement intervention to add certified diabetes educators (CDEs). We sought to measure whether sites with CDEs had higher quality and whether care improved over time more in sites with CDEs, beyond the existing differences among sites.

Designing a comprehensive strategy to improve one core measure: discharge of patients with myocardial infarction or heart failure on ACE inhibitors/ARBs.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEs/ARBs) have proven benefit for patients with myocardial infarction and heart failure; their use is a core measure of hospital quality for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The authors' urban medical center has lower-than-average performance on this measure. The authors used published best practices to design and implement a comprehensive strategy to improve ACE/ARB performance with existing decision support and human resources.

Behaviors of successful interdisciplinary hospital quality improvement teams.

Background: Although interdisciplinary hospital quality improvement (QI) teams are both prevalent and associated with success of (QI) efforts, little is known about the behaviors of successful interdisciplinary QI teams.

Objective: We examined the specific behaviors of interdisciplinary QI teams in hospitals that successfully redesigned care for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and reduced door-to-balloon times.

Design: Qualitative study.

Quality of care in the US territories.

Background: Health care quality in the US territories is poorly characterized. We used process measures to compare the performance of hospitals in the US territories and in the US states.

Methods: Our sample included nonfederal hospitals located in the United States and its territories discharging Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), or pneumonia (PNE) (July 2005-June 2008).

Quality improvement in community health centres: the role of microsystem characteristics in the implementation of a diabetes prevention initiative.

Objectives: To examine the role of microsystem characteristics in the translation of an evidence-based intervention (the Diabetes Prevention Initiative (DPI)) into practice in a community-health centre (CHC).

Design: Case study.

Analysis: Constant comparative method of qualitative analysis.