COPD treatment ratio: a measure for improving COPD population health.

Objectives: Despite chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) being a leading cause of death in the US, there are few COPD measures in current quality programs. The objective of this study was to assess the validity and applicability of the COPD treatment ratio (CTR) as a surrogate marker of COPD exacerbation risk for use in quality measurement. CTR is defined as the ratio of COPD maintenance medications to all COPD medications (maintenance and rescue).

Let's talk about it: an exploration of the comparative use of three different digital platforms to gather patient-reported outcome measures.

Background: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures provide valuable evidence in clinical trials; however, poor compliance with PRO measures is a notable and long-standing problem, resulting in missing data that potentially impact the interpretation of trial results. Interactive, patient-centric platforms may increase participants' motivation to complete PRO measures over the course of a clinical trial. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate and optimize the usability of 3 popular consumer technologies-a traditional app-based interface, a chatbot interface, and a speech-operated interface-that may be used to improve user engagement and compliance with PRO measures.

Specialty pharmacy turnaround time impediments, facilitators, and good practices.

Patients receiving specialty medications have conditions that are often complex, high cost, and high need. Prompt treatment initiation is essential for the appropriate management of many conditions treated by specialty products. Improving the turnaround time (TAT) of specialty pharmacy prescriptions helps ensure patients receive the medication they need in the necessary time frame to optimize health outcomes.

To report or not to report health care data breaches.

Objectives: The study's objectives were to explore the impact of personal/organizational knowledge, prior breach status of organizations, and framed scenarios on the choices made by privacy officers regarding the decision to report a breach.

Study Design: A survey was completed of 123 privacy officers who are members of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

Methods: The study used primary data collection through a survey.

Health literacy among visiting college students in the U.S.: A pilot study.

This study examined the health literacy of international college students from Colombia visiting the United States. Thirty (30) students from a Colombian university completed the survey in October 2017. This pilot study surveyed international college students using the eHEALS and Newest Vital Signs (NVS) health literacy tools to determine the health literacy of this group.

Population Health Initiatives Among Hospitals: Associated Hospital Characteristics.

This study explored how hospitals define population health and the factors associated with hospitals' population health initiatives. Data came from the 2015 American Hospital Association (AHA) Population Health Survey, the 2015 AHA Annual Survey, and the 2015 AHA Health Information Technology Supplement. Descriptive statistics described the sample of 1,386 nonfederal acute care hospitals and variables of interest.

The impact of racial and ethnic disparities in inhaled corticosteroid adherence on healthcare expenditures in adults with asthma.

The purpose of this study is to determine racial and ethnic disparities with the adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) in adults with persistent asthma, and their association with healthcare expenditures. A retrospective, cross-sectional study using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) 2013-2014 data included patients ≥18 years with persistent asthma. Median medication possession ratio (MPR) was used to dichotomize adherence levels.

Examining the relationship between hospital ownership and population health efforts.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ownership type and population health initiatives adopted by hospitals using the 2015 American Hospital Association data.

Design/methodology/approach: Hospitals of various sizes, ownership structures and geographic locations are represented in the survey. The outcome variables of interest include measures of hospital population health activities.

Multiyear Performance Trends Analysis of Primary Care Practices Demonstrating Patient-Centered Medical Home Transformation: An Observation of Quality Improvement Indicators among Outpatient Clinics.

Despite the ever-changing requirements of modern policy, payers seek interventions for care delivery improvement through value-based care models. Prior research acknowledges the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) as a tool for performance and outcomes improvement. However, these studies lack empirical evidence of performance trends across medical homes.

Immediate Physical Therapy Initiation in Patients With Acute Low Back Pain Is Associated With a Reduction in Downstream Health Care Utilization and Costs.

Background: Physical therapy is an important treatment option for patients with low back pain (LBP). However, whether to refer patients for physical therapy and the timing of initiation remain controversial.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of receiving physical therapy and the timing of physical therapy initiation on downstream health care utilization and costs among patients with acute LBP.

Data breach locations, types, and associated characteristics among US hospitals.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to describe the locations in hospitals where data are breached, the types of breaches that occur most often at hospitals, and hospital characteristics, including health information technology (IT) sophistication and biometric security capabilities, that may be predicting factors of large data breaches that affect 500 or more patients.

Study Design: The Office of Civil Rights breach data from healthcare providers regarding breaches that affected 500 or more individuals from 2009 to 2016 were linked with hospital characteristics from the Health Information Management Systems Society and the American Hospital Association Health IT Supplement databases.

Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to characterize hospitals with and without breaches, data breach type, and location/mode of data breaches in hospitals.

E-Prescribing and Adverse Drug Events: An Observational Study of the Medicare Part D Population With Diabetes.

Background: Although the adoption of e-prescriptions among physicians has increased substantially under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act and Meaningful Use programs, little is known of its impact on patient outcomes.

Objective: To examine the impact of e-prescribing on emergency visits or hospitalizations for diabetes-related adverse drug events (ADEs) including hypoglycemia.

Design: This is a prospective, observational cohort study with patient fixed effects.

Dispatch from the non-HITECH-incented Health IT world: electronic medication history adoption and utilization.

Objective: To document national trends of electronic medication history use in the ambulatory setting and describe the characteristics and predicting factors of providers who regularly use medication history transaction capabilities through their e-prescribing systems.

Materials And Methods: The study used provider-initiated medication history data requests, electronically sent over an e-prescribing network from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data from 138,000 prescribers were evaluated using multivariate analyses from 2007 to 2013.

Meaningful use stage 2 e-prescribing threshold and adverse drug events in the Medicare Part D population with diabetes.

Evidence supports the potential for e-prescribing to reduce the incidence of adverse drug events (ADEs) in hospital-based studies, but studies in the ambulatory setting have not used occurrence of ADE as their outcome. Using the "prescription origin code" in 2011 Medicare Part D prescription drug events files, the authors investigate whether physicians who meet the meaningful use stage 2 threshold for e-prescribing (≥50% of prescriptions e-prescribed) have lower rates of ADEs among their diabetic patients. Risk of any patient with diabetes in the provider's panel having an ADE from anti-diabetic medications was modeled adjusted for prescriber and patient panel characteristics.

Characteristics of prescription and nonprescription sleep medication users in the United States.

Sleep deprivation and disturbances can result in lowered productivity and increased errors/accidents. Little is known about population characteristics associated with the use of sleep medications. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of sociodemographic factors with the use of sleep medications in the US population.

Progress and challenges: implementation and use of health information technology among critical-access hospitals.

Despite major national investments to support the adoption of health information technology (IT), concerns persist that barriers are inhibiting that adoption and the use of advanced health IT capabilities in rural areas in particular. Using a survey of Medicare-certified critical-access hospitals, we examined electronic health record (EHR) adoption, key EHR functionalities, telehealth, and teleradiology, as well as challenges to EHR adoption. In 2013, 89 percent of critical-access hospitals had implemented a full or partial EHR.