Housing Instability and Outcomes Among Patients With Access-Sensitive Surgical Conditions.

Introduction: Housing instability is a significant contributor to poor health but remains understudied among surgical patients. We evaluated the association between housing instability and rates of unplanned surgical procedures, as well as resultant health and financial outcomes, for patients with access-sensitive conditions.

Methods: Using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample, we identified patients who underwent one of four selected procedures for access-sensitive surgical conditions (abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colectomy, incisional hernia repair, and lower extremity bypass).

Scoping Review: Association of Inpatient Hospital Design Features With Patients' Clinical Outcomes.

To identify associations between inpatient hospital design features and empirical patient clinical outcomes as well as changes over time. A growing body of literature has emerged evaluating the association of hospital design features with measurable clinical outcomes during inpatient hospital admissions. However, there has been limited effort to evaluate the scope and quality of studies examining individual, inpatient hospital design features on empirical patient clinical outcomes.

Multicenter evaluation of financial toxicity and long-term health outcomes after injury.

Background: Despite the growing awareness of the negative financial impact of traumatic injury on patients' lives, the association between financial toxicity and long-term health-related quality of life (hrQoL) among trauma survivors remains poorly understood.

Methods: Patients from nine trauma centers participating in a statewide trauma quality collaborative had responses from longitudinal survey data linked to inpatient trauma registry data. Financial toxicity was defined based on patient-reported survey responses regarding medical debt, work or income loss, nonmedical financial strain, and forgone care due to costs.

Association of Intellectual Disability with Delayed Presentation and Worse Outcomes in Emergency General Surgery.

Objective: To examine the association between intellectual disability and both severity of disease and clinical outcomes among patients presenting with common emergency general surgery (EGS) conditions.

Background: Accurate and timely diagnosis of EGS conditions is crucial for optimal management and patient outcomes. Individuals with intellectual disabilities may be at increased risk of delayed presentation and worse outcomes for EGS; however, little is known about surgical outcomes in this population.

Data resources for evaluating the economic and financial consequences of surgical care in the United States.

Abstract: Evaluating the relationship between health care costs and quality is paramount in the current health care economic climate, as an understanding of value is needed to drive policy decisions. While many policy analyses are focused on the larger health care system, there is a pressing need for surgically focused economic analyses. Surgical care is costly, and innovative technology is constantly introduced into the operating room, and surgical care impacts patients' short- and long-term physical and economic well-being.