Prevalence of Financial Considerations Documented in Primary Care Encounters as Identified by Natural Language Processing Methods.

Importance: Quantifying patient-physician cost conversations is challenging but important as out-of-pocket spending by US patients increases and patients are increasingly interested in discussing costs with their physicians. Objective: To characterize the prevalence of financial considerations documented in narrative clinical records of primary care encounters and their association with patient-level features. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study applied natural language processing to narrative clinical notes obtained from electronic health records for adult primary care visits. Participants included patients aged 18 years and older with at least 1 primary care visit for an annual preventive examination at outpatient clinics at a US academic health system between January 2, 2008, and July 30, 2013. Data were analyzed in March 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: Presence of financial content documented in narrative clinical notes. Results: The data set included 222 457 primary care visits for 46 244 individuals aged 18 years and older; 30 556 patients (60.1%) were female, 27 869 patients (60.3%) were white, and the mean (SD) age was 51.3 (17.7) years. In total, 6058 patients (13.1%) had at least 1 narrative clinical note indicating a financial conversation with their physician. In fully adjusted regression models, the odds of having a financial note were greater among patients with Medicare (odds ratio [OR], 1.27; 95% CI, 1.15-1.41; P < .001) or Medicaid (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.25-1.64; P < .001) insurance, those residing in zip codes with lower median income (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96-0.98; P < .001), black individuals (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.28-1.53; P < .001), Hispanic individuals (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01-1.20; P = .03), and those who were unmarried (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.15-1.33; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: Cost considerations were more likely to be noted in annual preventive examinations than previously observed in intensive care unit admissions, but still infrequently. Associations with particular patient subgroups may indicate differential financial burden or willingness to discuss financial concerns.

Medicare for All Should Not Be One Size Fits All.

For Medicare for all to truly work for all Americans it must do more than provide uniform, basic insurance. In health care, as in fashion, consumers need different options. To truly reform health care, solutions must allow customization and consumer choice.

Prevalence and Nature of Financial Considerations Documented in Narrative Clinical Records in Intensive Care Units.

Importance: The extent to which financial considerations alter intensive care unit (ICU) decision making is poorly understood. Objectives: To characterize the prevalence and nature of financial considerations documented in narrative clinical records and their association with patient-level demographic and clinical features. Design, Setting, and Participants: In silico cohort study applying natural language processing to narrative notes from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC-III) study. Data from all individuals hospitalized between June 1, 2001, and October 31, 2012, in the ICU of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center were analyzed from April 1 to April 30, 2018. Main Outcomes and Measure: Presence of financial considerations in narrative clinical notes. Results: Among 46 146 index ICU admissions, 1936 patients (4.2%) were identified with at least 1 note reflecting financial considerations during the ICU stay. Of these 1936 patients, 1135 (58.6%) were male, with a mean (SD) age of 38.8 (28.4) years and mean (SD) length of stay of 21.7 (27.1) days. Among the remaining 44 210 admissions in the cohort, 24 780 (56.1%) were male, with a mean (SD) age of 48.6 (32.1) years and mean (SD) length of stay of 9.2 (11.4) days. Among the 46 146 admissions, 142 (0.3%) included notes describing a change in the discharge plan, 142 (0.3%) describing a change in the treatment plan, and 303 (0.7%) describing a change in medication or previous nonadherence to medication associated with financial considerations. In logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, marital status, and insurance type, longer hospital stays were significantly associated with the presence of financial notes (odds ratio, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.01-1.01). Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, among patients in the ICU, clinical notes document the association of financial considerations with care decisions. Although such notes likely underestimate the frequency of such considerations, they highlight the need to develop better systematic approaches to understanding how financial constraints may alter care decisions in US health systems.