Two Decades Since the Unequal Treatment Report: The State of Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Elective Total Hip and Knee Replacement Use.

Published in 2003 by the Institute of Medicine, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care placed an unprecedented spotlight on disparities in the U.S. health-care system.

Association between mandatory bundled payments and changes in socioeconomic disparities for joint replacement outcomes.

Objective: To determine whether mandatory participation by hospitals in bundled payments for lower extremity joint replacement (LEJR) was associated with changes in outcome disparities for patients dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We used Medicare claims data for beneficiaries undergoing LEJR in the United States between 2011 and 2017.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective observational study using a differences-in-differences method to compare changes in outcome disparities between dual-eligible and non-dual eligible beneficiaries after hospital participation in the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) program.

Comparing Left Ventricular Structure and Functions in End-Stage Renal Disease Using Conventional Echocardiography and 2D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography.

Background: Patients on hemodialysis (HD) are prone to various cardiovascular complications. Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D STE) is an innovative technique for early myocardial dysfunction detection, even with normal ejection fraction (EF).

Objective: We aim to detect left ventricle (LV) dysfunction in regular hemodialysis patients using 2D STE compared to traditional echocardiography.

Short-Term Out-of-Pocket and Total Costs of Care After Ablation, Resection, or Transplant for Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A National SEER-Medicare Cost Comparison.

Differences in survival and morbidity among treatment options (ablation, surgical resection, and transplant) for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been well studied. Additional understanding of the costs of such care would help to identify drivers of high costs and potential barriers to care delivery. The purpose of this article was to quantify total and patient out-of-pocket costs for ablation, surgical resection, and transplant in the management of early-stage HCC and to identify factors predictive of these costs.

Understanding the Influence of Single Payer Health Insurance on Socioeconomic Disparities in Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) Utilization: A Transnational Analysis.

Objective: Access to care varies between countries. It is theorized that income-based disparities in access may be reduced in countries with universal health insurance relative to the United States, but data are currently limited. We hypothesized that income-based differences in total hip arthroplasty (THA) utilization and outcomes would be larger in the United States than in Canada.

Boosting photocatalytic water splitting of TiO using metal (Ru, Co, or Ni) co-catalysts for hydrogen generation.

The photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticles toward hydrogen generation can be significantly improved via the loading of various metals e.g., Ru, Co, Ni as co-catalysts.

Development of a prediction model for recurrence in patients with colorectal peritoneal metastases undergoing cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

Introduction: Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) improves survival outcomes for selected patients with colorectal peritoneal metastases (PM), but recurrence rates are high. The aim of this study was to develop a tool to predict recurrence in patients with colorectal PM that undergo CRS-HIPEC.

Materials And Methods: For this retrospective cohort study, data of patients that underwent CRS-HIPEC for colorectal PM from four Dutch HIPEC centers were used.

Elective Joint Replacement Among Medicaid Beneficiaries: Utilization and Postoperative Adverse Events by Racial and Ethnic Groups.

Hip and knee replacement have been marked by racial and ethnic disparities in both utilization and postoperative adverse events among Medicare beneficiaries, but limited knowledge exists regarding racial and ethnic differences in joint replacement care among Medicaid beneficiaries. To close this gap, this study used Medicaid claims in 2018 and described racial and ethnic differences in the utilization and postoperative adverse events of elective joint replacements among Medicaid beneficiaries. Among the 2,260,272 Medicaid beneficiaries, 5987 had an elective joint replacement in 2018.

Predictors for Early Liver Cancer Survival After Ablation and Surgical Resection: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program-Medicare Study.

Objective: To identify independent predictors of all-cause and cancer-specific mortality after ablation or surgical resection (SR) for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), after adjusting for key confounders.

Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program-Medicare, HCCs less than 5 cm treated with ablation or SR in 2009 to 2016 (n = 956) were identified. Univariate and multivariable Cox regression models for all-cause and cancer-specific mortality were performed including demographics, clinical factors (tumor size, medical comorbidities, and liver disease factors), social determinants of health, and treatment characteristics.

Preference Elicitation and Treatment Decision-Making Among Men Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer: Randomized Controlled Trial Results of Healium.

Background: Elicitation of patients' preferences is an integral part of shared decision-making, the recommended approach for prostate cancer decision-making. Existing decision aids for this population often do not specifically focus on patients' preferences. Healium is a brief interactive web-based decision aid that aims to elicit patients' treatment preferences and is designed for a low health literate population.

Beyond Survival: Adverse Events and Care Delivery Outcomes after Early Liver Cancer Treatment in a Nationally Representative Cohort.

Purpose: To compare secondary outcomes after ablation (AB), surgical resection (SR), and liver transplant (LT) for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), including resource utilization and adverse event (AE) rates.

Materials And Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER)-Medicare, HCCs <5 cm that were treated with AB, SR, or LT in 2009-2016 (n = 1,067) were identified using Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes through Medicare claims. Index procedure length of stay, need for intensive care unit (ICU) level care, readmission rates, and AE rates at 30 and 90 days were compared using chi-square tests or Fisher exact tests.

Fetal and maternal morbidity in pregnant patients with Lupus: a 10-year US nationwide analysis.

Objective: To evaluate and quantify the indicators of fetal and maternal morbidity in deliveries for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared with deliveries in patients without SLE.

Methods: We used retrospective data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to identify all delivery related hospital admissions of patients with and without SLE from 2008 to 2017 using ICD-9/10 codes. Fetal morbidity indicators included pre-term delivery and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

Acceptability and Feasibility of Delivering Decision Aids to Veterans for Management of Knee Osteoarthritis - A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Decision aids are effective tools in facilitating patient-centered care and patient involvement in the decision-making process. Given unique barriers to providing patient-centered care for Veterans, implementation of decision aids may improve overall quality of care. We aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of video-based and pamphlet-based decision aid use in Veterans with knee osteoarthritis.

Impact of Pre-operative Opioid Use on Racial Disparities in Adverse Outcomes Post Total Knee and Hip Arthroplasty.

Introduction: The growing opioid epidemic in the USA has underlying racial disparities dimensions. Also, studies have shown that patients from minority racial groups are at higher risk of adverse events following major orthopedic surgery. The aim of our study was to determine whether pre-operative opioid-use disorders (OUDs) impacted racial disparities in the likelihood of patients experiencing adverse post-operative outcomes following TKA and THA.

Long-Term Survival After Surgery Versus Ablation for Early Liver Cancer in a Large, Nationally Representative Cohort.

Objective: To compare survival outcomes (all-cause, cancer-specific, and disease-free) for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), less than or equal to 5 cm, after ablation (AB) and surgical resection (SR) after adjusting for key confounders. Secondarily, to understand differential survival outcomes of liver transplant (TR) compared with SR and AB.

Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program-Medicare, HCCs less than 5 cm that were treated with AB, SR, or TR in 2009 to 2016 (n = 1,215) were identified using Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes through Medicare claims.