Impact of anemia on outcomes and resource utilization in patients with myocardial infarction: A national database analysis.

Background: Although anemia is common in patients with myocardial infarction (MI), management remains controversial. We quantified the association of anemia with in-hospital outcomes and resource utilization in patients admitted with MI using a large national database.

Methods: All hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis code for acute MI in the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) between 2014 and 2018 were identified.

Impact of Community Socioeconomic Characteristics on Emergency Medical Service Delays in Responding to Fatal Vehicle Crashes.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the impact of community socioeconomic status on emergency medical services' response time for fatal vehicle crashes.

Methods: Authors used the 2019 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System and 2019-2020 Area Health Resource Files to obtain emergency medical services' time intervals and county socioeconomic characteristics (e.g.

Impact of functional disability on health-care use and medical costs among cancer survivors.

Background: Cancer survivors with a disability are among the most vulnerable in health status and financial hardship, but no prior research has systematically examined how disability modifies health-care use and costs. This study examined the association between functional disability among cancer survivors and their health-care utilization and medical costs.

Methods: We generated nationally representative estimates using the 2015-2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

A National Perspective of Telemedicine Use and Direct Medical Costs: Who Uses It and How Much It Costs.

Background: Telemedicine has the potential to reduce medical costs among health systems. However, there is a limited understanding of the use of telemedicine and its association with direct medical costs.

Objectives: Using nationally representative data, we investigated telemedicine use and the associated direct medical costs among respondents overall and stratified by medical provider type and patient insurance status.

Assessment of Uptake Appropriateness of Computed Tomography for Lung Cancer Screening According to Patients Meeting Eligibility Criteria of the US Preventive Services Task Force.

Importance: Currently, computed tomography (CT) is used for lung cancer screening (LCS) among populations with various levels of compliance to the eligibility criteria from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations and may represent suboptimal allocation of health care resources.

Objective: To evaluate the appropriateness of CT LCS according to the USPSTF eligibility criteria.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study used the 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey.

Household disinfection practices by women living in Egypt during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and the association of information sources and suspected bleach toxicity.

Introduction: The spread of contradictory health information was a hallmark of the early COVID-19 pandemic. Because of a limited understanding of the disease, its mode of transmission, and its pathogenicity, the public turned to easily accessible and familiar sources of information. Some of these sources included wrong or incomplete information that could increase health risks and incidents of toxicity due to improper information about the usage of disinfectants.

The Impact of Meaningful Use and Electronic Health Records on Hospital Patient Safety.

The HITECH Act aimed to leverage Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to improve efficiency, quality, and patient safety. Patient safety and EHR use have been understudied, making it difficult to determine if EHRs improve patient safety. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of EHRs and attesting to Meaningful Use (MU) on Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs).

Impact of race-specific screening guideline on the uptake of colorectal cancer screening among young African Americans.

Background: African Americans (AAs) have had lower colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates, higher incidence rate, and earlier mean age at onset. The 2017 U.S.

Association of Intrinsic Motivating Factors and Joy in Practice: A National Physician Survey.

Objectives: In response to the need to identify positive measures that more accurately describe physician wellness, this study seeks to assess the validity of a novel joy in practice measure using validated physician well-being measures and test its association with certain intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.

Methods: Secondary data analysis using a nationally representative dataset of 2000 US physicians, fielded October-December 2011. Multivariable logistic models with survey design provided nationally representative individual-level estimates.

The Impact of Electronic Health Records and Meaningful Use on Inpatient Quality.

It is unclear if national investments of the HITECH Act have resulted in significant improvements in care processes and outcomes by making "Meaningful Use (MU)" of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of EHRs and MU on inpatient quality. We used inpatient hospitalization data, American Hospital Association annual survey, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services attestation records to study the impact of EHRs on inpatient quality composite scores.

Impact of Florida's prescription drug monitoring program on drug- related fatal vehicle crashes: a difference-in-differences approach.

Background: Prescription drug use has soared in the USA within the last two decades. Prescription drugs can impair motor skills essential for the safe operation of a motor vehicle, and therefore can affect traffic safety. As one of the epicentres of the opioid epidemic, Florida has been struck by high opioid misuse and overdose rates, and has concurrently suffered major threats to traffic disruptions safety caused by driving under the influence of drugs.

Association of Post-discharge Service Types and Timing with 30-Day Readmissions, Length of Stay, and Costs.

Background: Although early follow-up after discharge from an index admission (IA) has been postulated to reduce 30-day readmission, some researchers have questioned its efficacy, which may depend upon the likelihood of readmission at a given time and the health conditions contributing to readmissions.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between post-discharge services utilization of different types and at different timepoints and unplanned 30-day readmission, length of stay (LOS), and inpatient costs.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The study sample included 583,199 all-cause IAs among 2014 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries that met IA inclusion criteria.

Mechanical Circulatory Support Following Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Insights From the National Cardiogenic Shock Initiative.

Background: Evidence is limited regarding the role of mechanical circulatory support (MCS) in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) complicated by cardiogenic shock (CGS). In particular, the role of MCS in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is unknown.

Methods: The National Cardiogenic Shock Initiative (NCSI) is a multicenter United States registry of patients with ACS complicated by CGS treated with MCS.

Association of Preferences for Participation in Decision-making With Care Satisfaction Among Hospitalized Patients.

Importance: The association of patient desire to participate in health care decisions with care satisfaction is poorly understood. The contributions of such desire, expectations of care, and quality of care in assessing patient satisfaction are not known.

Objective: To investigate the association of hospitalized patients' desire to delegate decisions to their physician with care dissatisfaction.

Relative Costs of Surgical and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and Medical Therapy.

Background: The number of patients treated for aortic valve disease in the United States is increasing rapidly. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is supplanting surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and medical therapy (MT). The economic implications of these trends are unknown.

Utilisation of emergency departments of behavioural disorders and supply of workforce in Nebraska.

Background: Emergency departments (EDs) have become entry points for treating behavioural health (BH) conditions, thereby rendering the evaluation of their utilisation necessary.

Objectives: This study estimated behavioural-related hospital-based ED visits and outcomes of leaving against medical advice as well as the incurred charges within the primarily rural State of Nebraska. Also, the study correlated behavioural workforce distribution and location of EDs with ED utilisation.

Moral Controversy and Working with Colleagues with a Shared Ethical/Moral Outlook: A National Survey of US Primary Care Physicians.

Objectives: This study assesses physicians' attitudes on the importance of working with colleagues who share the same ethical or moral outlook regarding morally controversial healthcare practices and examines the association of physicians' religious and spiritual characteristics with these attitudes.

Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis of a 2009 national survey that was administered to a stratified random sample of 1504 US primary care physicians (PCPs). In that dataset, physicians were asked: "For you personally, how important is it to work with colleagues who share your ethical/moral outlook regarding morally controversial health care practices?" We examined associations between physicians' religious/spiritual characteristics and their attitudes toward having a shared ethical/moral outlook with colleagues.

The Evolving Management of Aortic Valve Disease: 5-Year Trends in SAVR, TAVR, and Medical Therapy.

Aortic stenosis (AS) and regurgitation (AR) may be treated with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), transcatheter AVR (TAVR), or medical therapy (MT). Data are lacking regarding the usage of SAVR, TAVR, and MT for patients hospitalized with aortic valve disease and the characteristics of the patients and hospitals associated with each therapy. From the Nationwide Readmissions Database, we determined utilization trends for SAVR, TAVR, and MT in patients with aortic valve disease admitted from 2012 to 2016 for valve replacement, heart failure, unstable angina, non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, or syncope.

Post-Discharge Services for Different Diagnoses Than Index Hospitalization Predict Decreased 30-Day Readmissions Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Background: Efforts to reduce hospital readmissions include post-discharge interventions related to the illness treated during the index hospitalization (IH). These efforts may be inadequate because readmissions are precipitated by a wide range of health conditions unrelated to the primary diagnosis of the IH.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between post-discharge health services utilization for the same or a different diagnosis than the IH and unplanned 30-day readmission.

Predictors of Empathic Compassion: Do Spirituality, Religion, and Calling Matter?

Objective: To determine whether physician spirituality, religion, and sense of calling toward medicine are predictors of self-reported empathic compassion.

Methods: We sampled 2000 practicing US physicians from all specialties and used self-reported measures of general and clinical empathic compassion taken from previous studies. Independent variables were single-item measures of calling, spirituality, and religiosity (importance of religion).

Patient Characteristics and Causes of Facial Fractures in the State of California.

Purpose: Each year, more than 400,000 emergency department (ED) visits in the United States are due to facial fractures. To inform targeted interventions to prevent facial fractures, the purpose of this study was to identify patient characteristics associated with causes of facial fractures in California.

Materials And Methods: The 2005 to 2011 California State Emergency Department Database was used for this cross-sectional study.

Predictors and Costs of 30-Day Readmissions After Index Hospitalizations for Alcohol-Related Disorders in U.S. Adults.

Background: In 2015, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program mandated financial penalties to hospitals with greater rates of readmissions for certain conditions. Alcohol-related disorders (ARD) are the fourth leading cause of 30-day readmissions. Yet, there is a dearth of national-level research to identify high-risk patient populations and predictors of 30-day readmission.

Money, Managed Care, and Medicaid Initiatives Matter: Patient-centered Medical Home Capacity in School-based Health Centers.

School-based health centers (SBHCs) have been suggested as potential medical homes, but may experience challenges implementing the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model. It is currently unknown if there are PCMH variations among different types of SBHCs. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between SBHC characteristics and PCMH capacity.

Demographic and Practice Characteristics of Physicians Who Care for Medically Underserved People: A National Survey.

Objectives: Few national studies have examined the influence of role models as a potential predictor for caring for medically underserved (MUS) patients. This study tested associations between previous physician role model exposure and caring for MUS populations, as well as examines the practice environments of these physicians.

Methods: Between October and December 2011, we mailed a confidential questionnaire to a representative sample of 2000 US physicians from various specialties.