Location of Violent Crime Relative to Trauma Resources in Detroit: Implications for Community Interventions.

INTRODUCTION: Detroit, Michigan, is among the leading United States cities for per-capita homicide and violent crime. Hospital- and community-based intervention programs could decrease the rate of violent-crime related injury but require a detailed understanding of the locations of violence in the community to be most effective. METHODS: We performed a retrospective geospatial analysis of all violent crimes reported within the city of Detroit from 2009-2015 comparing locations of crimes to locations of major hospitals. We calculated distances between violent crimes and trauma centers, and applied summary spatial statistics. RESULTS: Approximately 1.1 million crimes occurred in Detroit during the study period, including approximately 200,000 violent crimes. The distance between the majority of violent crimes and hospitals was less than five kilometers (3.1 miles). Among violent crimes, the closest hospital was an outlying Level II trauma center 60% of the time. CONCLUSION: Violent crimes in Detroit occur throughout the city, often closest to a Level II trauma center. Understanding geospatial components of violence relative to trauma center resources is important for effective implementation of hospital- and community-based interventions and targeted allocation of resources.

Impact of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion on emergency department high utilizers with ambulatory care sensitive conditions: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: The effect of the Affordable Care Act on emergency department (ED) high utilizers has not yet been thoroughly studied. We sought to determine the impact of changes in insurance eligibility following the 2014 Medicaid expansion on ED utilization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) by high ED utilizers in an urban safety net hospital. METHODS: High utilizers were defined as patients with ≥4 visits in the 6months before their most recent visit in the study period (July-December before and after Maryland's Medicaid expansion in January 2014). A differences-in-differences approach using logistic regression was used to investigate if differences between high and low utilizer cohorts changed from before and after the expansion. RESULTS: During the study period, 726 (4.1%) out of 17,795 unique patients in 2013 and 380 (2.4%) of 16,458 during the same period in 2014 were high utilizers (p-value <0.001). ACSC-associated visit predicted being a high utilizer in 2013 (OR 1.66 (95% CI [1.37, 2.01])) and 2014 (OR 1.65 (95% CI [1.27, 2.15])) but this was not different between years (OR ratio 0.99, 95% CI [0.72, 1.38], p-value 0.97). CONCLUSION: Although the proportion of high utilizers decreased significantly after Maryland's Medicaid expansion, ACSC-associated ED visits by high ED utilizers were unaffected.

Continued Importance of Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics in the Era of the Affordable Care Act.

INTRODUCTION: Following the 2014 expansions of Medicaid and private health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, municipal sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics-which have historically served predominantly uninsured patients-have been threatened with budget cuts nationwide. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of the insurance expansions on the demand for STD clinic services. METHODS: The proportion of total incident sexually transmitted infections in Baltimore City that were diagnosed at STD clinics was compared between 2013 and 2014, and a multivariate analysis was conducted to determine factors associated with diagnosis at an STD clinic. Analyses were conducted in July 2015. RESULTS: There was no change in the overall proportion of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses made at STD clinics from 2013 to 2014 (relative rate, 1.03; 95% CI=0.95, 1.11). Hispanic ethnicity, black race, male sex, and age >24 years were associated with an increased likelihood of STD clinic utilization (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the Affordable Care Act's insurance expansion measures, the demand for STD clinics remained stable. These safety net clinics serve patients likely to face barriers to accessing traditional health care and their preservation should remain a priority.

Baltimore's Unrest: Perspectives From Public Health and Emergency Physician Leaders.

The tragic April 19, 2015, death of an African American man injured while in police custody spurred several days of protest and civil unrest in Baltimore City. This article outlines the opportunity and role for a local health department during civil unrest, from the perspective of 2 emergency physicians who also led the Baltimore City Health Department through these recent events. Between April 27 and May 8, 2015, the Health Department was a lead agency in the unrest response and recovery activities. Similar to an emergency medical situation, a "public health code" is proposed as a model for centralizing, reacting to, and debriefing after situations of civil unrest.