Early Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders and Outcome After Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background: Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders are commonly used after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and have been shown to be a predictor of mortality independent of disease severity. We determined the frequency of early DNR orders in ICH patients and whether a previously reported association with increased mortality still exists.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients discharged from non-federal California hospitals with a primary diagnosis of ICH from January 2013 through December 2014.

Starting Young: Trends in Opioid Therapy Among US Adolescents and Young Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the Truven MarketScan Database Between 2007 and 2015.

Background: Opioids are commonly prescribed for relief in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Emerging evidence suggests that adolescents and young adults are a vulnerable population at particular risk of becoming chronic opioid users and experiencing adverse effects.

Objectives: This study evaluates trends in the prevalence and persistence of chronic opioid therapy in adolescents and young adults with IBD in the United States.

Nationwide Trends in Acute and Chronic Pancreatitis Among Privately Insured Children and Non-Elderly Adults in the United States, 2007-2014.

Background & Aims: Epidemiologic analyses of acute pancreatitis (AP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP) provide insight into causes and strategies for prevention and affect allocation of resources to its study and treatment. We sought to determine current and accurate incidences of AP and CP, along with the prevalence of CP, in children and adults in the United States.

Methods: We collected data from the Truven MarketScan Research Databases of commercial inpatient and outpatient insurance claims in the United States from 2007 through 2014 (patients 0-64 years old).

Trends in charges and payments for nonhospitalized emergency department pediatric visits, 1996-2003.

Objectives: To compare charges and payments for outpatient pediatric emergency visits across payer groups to provide information on reimbursement trends.

Methods: Total charges and payments for emergency department (ED) visits Medicaid/State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), privately insured, and uninsured pediatric patients from 1996 to 2003 using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Average charges per visit and average payments per visit were also tracked, using regression analysis to adjust for changes in patient characteristics.

Decreasing reimbursements for outpatient emergency department visits across payer groups from 1996 to 2004.

Study Objective: There is increasing concern that decreasing reimbursements to emergency departments (EDs) will negatively affect their functioning, but little evidence has been published identifying trends in reimbursement rates. We seek to examine and document the trends in reimbursement for outpatient ED visits throughout the past decade.

Methods: We use Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data covering a 9-year span from 1996 to 2004, using outpatient ED visits as the unit of analysis.

Physician practice size and variations in treatments and outcomes: evidence from Medicare patients with AMI.

Little is known about the relationships between physician practice size and patient treatments or outcomes. We examined whether the practice size of attending physicians was related to within-hospital differences in care for Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We found that patients treated by solo physicians were less likely to receive cardiac catheterization and angioplasty within a day of admission and more likely to die than other patients in the same hospital, even after a number of patient and physician characteristics were taken into account.