Background: Effective June 6, 2019, Veterans Affairs (VA) began offering a new urgent care (UC) benefit that provides eligible Veterans with greater choice and access to care for the treatment of minor injuries and illnesses in their local communities.
Objectives: The aim was to describe trends in UC use, identify predictors of UC benefit use, and understand the factors associated with community UC use versus VA emergency department (ED) or urgent care center (UCC) use.
Study Design: Using VA administrative data, this was a retrospective cross-sectional study of Veterans that were enrolled in VA in FY19. Veterans were classified into 3 groups: UC benefit users, benefit non-users, and VA ED/UCC users.
Methods: We used summary statistics to compare population characteristics across user groups. To determine whether predisposing, enabling, and need factors predicted UC benefit use and setting choice (community UCC vs. VA ED/UCC), 2 logistic regression models were fitted to assess odds of UC use.
Results: From June 6, 2019 through February 29, 2020, 138,305 Veterans made 175,821 community UC visits. The majority of visits were made by White males who were not subject to co-pays. The average cost to VA for UC visits was $132 (SD=$135). Upper respiratory infections were the most common reason for UC use. Being younger, female, and living farther from a VA ED/UCC was associated with greater UC benefit use compared with both benefit non-users and VA ED/UCC users.
Conclusions: The new benefit expands Veteran access to UC services for low-acuity conditions.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000001549 | DOI Listing |
Lancet Oncol
January 2025
Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address:
Background: PATHFINDER was a prospective cohort study of multicancer early detection (MCED) testing in an outpatient ambulatory population. The aim of this study is to report the patient-reported outcomes (PROs) collected as secondary and exploratory measures in the PATHFINDER study.
Methods: PATHFINDER is a prospective, multicentre, cohort study that enrolled existing healthy ambulatory outpatients at seven health networks in the USA, including hospitals, academic medical centres, and integrated health systems.
Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol
January 2025
British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK. Electronic address:
Background: Data on the effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist therapy on HbA levels and new-onset diabetes are conflicting. We aimed to examine the effect of oral finerenone, compared with placebo, on incident diabetes in the Finerenone Trial to Investigate Efficacy and Safety Superior to Placebo in Patients with Heart Failure (FINEARTS-HF) trial.
Methods: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 6001 participants with heart failure with New York Heart Association functional class II-IV, left ventricular ejection fraction 40% or higher, evidence of structural heart disease, and elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels were randomly assigned to finerenone or placebo, administered orally.
Nephrol Nurs J
January 2025
Senior Consultant to the Global Medical Office, Fresenius Medical Care, Waltham, MA.
Patients with acute kidney injury often require dialysis (AKI-D) in the outpatient setting following hospitalization. Management of the patient with AKI-D should focus on preventing further insult to the damaged kidney and recovery of kidney function. Clinical attention should include continuity of care, education, infection control, medication management, and fluid management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcancermedicalscience
November 2024
Department of Radiation Oncology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh 160030, India.
Background: There is limited data from India on Ewing sarcoma (ES) patients. We analysed the demographic and clinical profile of ES patients, the systemic chemotherapy, local treatment and outcomes in patients with localised, metastatic and recurrent disease.
Methods: Data of ES patients reporting from 2010 to 2019 to a tertiary care referral centre in north India was evaluated.
Front Antibiot
September 2024
Institute of Infection & Immunity, St George's, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Neonatal sepsis causes substantial morbidity and mortality, the burden of which is carried by low-income countries (LICs). The emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens in vulnerable neonatal populations poses an urgent threat to infant survival. spp.
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