Changes in emergency department use associated with Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act: A comparison of waiver and traditional expansion states.

Objective: To determine whether changes in emergency department use associated with Medicaid expansions differed between states undergoing waiver and traditional expansions. Methods: Design: This study was a cross-sectional difference-in-difference and event studies of Medicaid Expansion among states that expanded during or after 2014. Setting: We used a nationally representative cross-sectional survey from all 50 United States and the District of Columbia from 2010 to 2016. Participants: Adults aged 19-65 years with incomes <138% of the federal poverty level were included. Main Outcomes and Measures: Main outcomes were self-reported emergency department (ED) utilization in the last 12 months. Results: Individuals in states across all expansion types were not more likely to report any ED use in the previous year (2.8 percentage point increase [0.0-5.5], P = 0.052) but were more likely to report visiting an ED 2 times or more in the previous year (2.0 [0.0-4.1], P = 0.049) than those in non-expansion states. Individuals in states undergoing traditional expansions likewise were not more likely to report any ED use (2.2 [-0.7 to 1.5], P = 0.136) but were more likely to report visiting an ED 2 times or more in the previous year (2.3 [0.1-4.4], P = 0.038). Conversely, individuals in waiver states were more likely to report increase in any ED use (5.6 [0.3-11.0], P = 0.038), but were not more likely to report use of EDs 2 times or more in the previous year (0.8 [-3.2-4.9], P = 0.688). The differences between traditional and waiver states in any ED use and ED use 2 times or more in the previous 12 months were not statistically significant (P = 0.215 and P = 0.501, respectively). Conclusions: Three years after expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, there is little evidence of differences between traditional and waiver expansion states in changes in any ED use or intensive ED use. Future studies should investigate longer term changes in ED use.

Resuscitate but not Intubate? Partial Codes in Pediatrics.

The use of partial code status in pediatric medicine presents clinicians with unique ethical challenges. The clinical vignette describes the presentation of a pulseless infant with a limited life expectancy. The infant's parents instruct the emergency medicine providers to resuscitate but not to intubate. In an emergency, without a clear understanding of parents' goals, complying with their request risks an ineffective resuscitation. The first commentary focuses on parental grief and how, in certain circumstances, a partial code best serves their needs. Its authors argue that providers are sometimes obligated to endure moral distress. The second commentary focuses on the healthcare team's moral distress and highlights the implications of a relational ethics framework for the case. The commentators emphasize the importance of honest communication and pain management. The final commentary explores the systems-level and how the design of hospital code status orders may contribute to requests for partial codes. They argue systems should discourage partial codes and prohibit resuscitation without intubation.

Decision Aids, Doorknob Moments, and Physician-Patient Solidarity in EDs.

Potential benefits of decision aids and technology, such as artificial intelligence, used at the bedside are many and significant. Like any tools, they must be used appropriately for specific tasks, since even validated decision aids have limited utility when they are misapplied, overly relied upon, or used as a substitute for thinking carefully about clinically and ethically relevant questions. Patients are more than data points in human form, as they come to emergency departments with stories. As technology casts ever-lengthening shadows over patient-clinician interactions, a key question is: How should clinicians cultivate relationships with technology so it functions in solidarity with patients?

California Children Presenting to an Emergency Department for Mental Health Emergencies: Trajectories of Care.

OBJECTIVES: Pediatric emergency department (ED) mental health visits are increasing in the United States. At the same time, child/adolescent psychiatric services are limited. This study examines the trajectory of pediatric patients presenting with mental health emergencies to better understand availability of specialty care resources in regional networks. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used a California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development linked ED and Inpatient Discharge Dataset (2005-2015) to study pediatric patients (5-17 years) who presented to an ED with a primary mental health diagnosis. Outcomes were disposition: discharge, admission, or transfer.Patients transferred were further analyzed for disposition. Regression models to identify characteristics associated with disposition were created. RESULTS: There were 384,339 pediatric patients presented for a primary mental health emergency from 2005 to 2015; 287,997 were discharged, 17,564 were admitted, and 78,725 were transferred. Among those not discharged, patients with public (odds ratio [OR], 1.28; P < 0.01) or self-pay insurance (OR, 5.64; P < 0.01), Black (OR, 2.15; P < 0.01), or Native American race (OR, 2.32; P < 0.01), and who presented to rural EDs (OR, 3.10; P < 0.01), nonteaching hospitals (OR, 3.06; P < 0.01), or hospitals in counties without dedicated child/adolescent psychiatric beds (OR, 5.59; P < 0.01) had higher odds of transfer.Among those not discharged from the second hospital, Black patients (OR, 2.47; P < 0.03) and those who were transferred to a teaching hospital (OR, 1.9; P < 0.01) had higher odds of second transfer. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with mental health emergencies experience different trajectories of care. Transfer protocols and regionalized networks may help streamline services and decrease inefficiencies in care.

Relationship between costs and clinical benefits of new cancer medicines in Australia, France, the UK, and the US.

As cancer drug prices rise, it remains unclear whether the cost of new interventions is related to their beneficial impact for patients at a societal-level. Using data for 2003-2015 from the IQVIA MIDAS® dataset, the relationship between cancer drug costs and drug clinical benefits was studied in four countries with different approaches to drug pricing. Summary measures of drug clinical effects on overall survival, quality of life, and safety were obtained from a review of health technology assessments. Mean total drug costs for a full course of treatment were estimated using standard posology for each medicine and in each country. Regression analysis was used to test whether, at a societal-level, the cost of recently licensed drugs is related to their beneficial impact for patients. Across all eligible medicines, average treatment costs were lowest in France and Australia and highest in the UK and US. Compared with Australia, France, and the UK, cancer medicines were on average between 1.2 and 1.9 times more expensive in the US, where the average total per patient cost for treatment was $68,255.17. Costs for new cancer medicines are high and, at best, only weakly associated with drug clinical benefits. The strength of this relationship nevertheless varied across countries. Some new cancer drugs-particularly in the US-may be neither affordable nor clinically beneficial over existing treatments. While all countries can benefit from strategies that more robustly align price with therapeutic benefit in cancer drugs, the US stands out in its opportunity to improve both affordability and value in cancer drug treatment.

What constitutes a 'successful' recovery? Patient perceptions of the recovery process after a traumatic injury.

BACKGROUND: As the number of patients surviving traumatic injuries has grown, understanding the factors that shape the recovery process has become increasingly important. However, the psychosocial factors affecting recovery from trauma have received limited attention. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study to better understand how patients view recovery after traumatic injury. METHODS: This qualitative, descriptive study was conducted at a Level One university trauma center. Participants 1-3 years postinjury were purposefully sampled to include common blunt-force mechanisms of injuries and a range of ages, socioeconomic backgrounds and injury severities. Semi-structured interviews explored participants' perceptions of self and the recovery process after traumatic injury. Interviews were transcribed verbatim; the data were inductively coded and thematically analyzed. RESULTS: We conducted 15 interviews, 13 of which were with male participants (87%); average hospital length of stay was 8.9 days and mean injury severity score was 18.3. An essential aspect of the patient experience centered around the recovery of both the body and the 'self', a composite of one's roles, values, identities and beliefs. The process of regaining a sound sense of self was essential to achieving favorable subjective outcomes. Participants expressed varying levels of engagement in their recovery process, with those on the high end of the engagement spectrum tending to speak more positively about their outcomes. Participants described their own subjective interpretations of their recovery as most important, which was primarily influenced by their engagement in the recovery process and ability to recover their sense of self. DISCUSSION: Patients who are able to maintain or regain a cohesive sense of self after injury and who are highly engaged in the recovery process have more positive assessments of their outcomes. Our findings offer a novel framework for healthcare providers and researchers to use as they approach the issue of recovery after injury with patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III-descriptive, exploratory study.

Implementation Challenges Using a Novel Method for Collecting Patient-Reported Outcomes After Injury.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring longitudinal patient-reported outcomes after injury is important for comprehensive trauma care. Current methodologies are resource-intensive and struggle to engage patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients ≥18 y old admitted to the trauma service were prospectively enrolled. The following inclusion criteria were used: emergency operation, ICU length of stay ≥2 midnights, or hospital length of stay ≥4 d. Validated and customized questionnaires were administered using a novel internet-based survey platform. Three-month follow-up surveys were administered. Contextual field notes regarding barriers to enrollment/completion of surveys and challenges faced by participants were recorded. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients were eligible; 26 of 47 (55%) enrolled and 19 of 26 (73%) completed initial surveys. The final sample included 14 (74%) men and 5 (26%) women. Primary barriers to enrollment included technological constraints and declined participation. Contextual field notes revealed three major issues: competing hospital tasks, problems with technology, and poor engagement. The average survey completion time was 43 ± 27 min-21% found this too long. Seventy-four percent reported the system "easy to use" and 95% reported they would "very likely" or "definitely" respond to future surveys. However, 10 of 26 (38%) patients completed 3-mo follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a well-rated internet-based survey platform, study participation remained challenging. Lack of email access and technological issues decreased enrollment and the busy hospitalization posed barriers to completion. Despite a thoughtful operational design and implementation plan, the trauma population presented a challenging group to engage. Next steps will focus on optimizing engagement, broadening access to survey reminders, and enhancing integration into clinical workflows.

Effectiveness of Preoperative Antibiotics in Preventing Surgical Site Infection After Common Soft Tissue Procedures of the Hand.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic prophylaxis is a common but controversial practice for clean soft tissue procedures of the hand, such as carpal tunnel release or trigger finger release. Previous studies report no substantial reduction in the risk of surgical site infection (SSI) after antibiotic prophylaxis, yet are limited in power by low sample sizes and low overall rates of postoperative infection. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: Is there evidence that antibiotic prophylaxis decreases the risk of SSI after soft tissue hand surgery when using propensity score matching to control for potential confounding variables such as demographics, procedure type, medication use, existing comorbidities, and postoperative events? METHODS: This retrospective analysis used the Truven Health MarketScan databases, large, multistate commercial insurance claims databases corresponding to inpatient and outpatient services and outpatient drug claims made between January 2007 and December 2014. The database includes records for patients enrolled in health insurance plans from self-insured employers and other private payers. Current Procedural Terminology codes were used to identify patients who underwent carpal tunnel release, trigger finger release, ganglion and retinacular cyst excision, de Quervain's release, or soft tissue mass excision, and to assign patients to one of two cohorts based on whether they had received preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis. We identified 943,741 patients, of whom 426,755 (45%) were excluded after meeting one or more exclusion criteria: 357,500 (38%) did not have 12 months of consecutive insurance enrollment before surgery or 1 month of enrollment after surgery; 60,693 (6%) had concomitant bony, implant, or incision and drainage or débridement procedures; and 94,141 (10%) did not have complete data. In all, our initial cohort consisted of 516,986 patients, among whom 58,201 (11%) received antibiotic prophylaxis. Propensity scores were calculated and used to create cohorts matched on potential risk factors for SSI, including age, procedure type, recent use of steroids and immunosuppressive agents, diabetes, HIV/AIDs, tobacco use, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, alcohol abuse, malnutrition, history of prior SSI, and local procedure volume. Multivariable logistic regression before and after propensity score matching was used to test whether antibiotic prophylaxis was associated with a decrease in the risk of SSI within 30 days after surgery. RESULTS: After controlling for patient demographics, hand procedure type, medication use, existing comorbidities (eg, diabetes, HIV/AIDs, tobacco use, obesity), and postoperative events through propensity score matching, we found that the risk of postoperative SSI was no different between patients who had received antibiotic prophylaxis and those who had not (odds ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.93-1.13; p = 0.585). CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic prophylaxis for common soft tissue procedures of the hand is not associated with reduction in postoperative infection risk. While our analysis cannot account for factors that are not captured in the billing process, this study nevertheless provides strong evidence against unnecessary use of antibiotics before these procedures, especially given the difficulty of conducting a randomized prospective study with a sample size large enough to detect the effect of prophylaxis on the low baseline risk of infection. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, therapeutic study.

Interprofessional Collaboration: A Qualitative Study of Non-Physician Perspectives on Resident Competency.

BACKGROUND: The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) includes the ability to collaborate in an interprofessional team as a core professional activity that trainees should be able to complete on day 1 of residency (Med Sci Educ. 26:797-800, 2016). The training that medical students require in order to achieve this competency, however, is not well established (Med Sci Educ. 26:457-61, 2016), and few studies have examined non-physician healthcare professionals' perspectives regarding resident physicians' interprofessional skills. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe non-physicians' views on barriers to collaboration with physicians, as well as factors that contribute to good collaborative relationships. PARTICIPANTS: Nurses, social workers, case managers, dietitians, rehabilitation therapists, and pharmacists at one academic medical center, largely working in the inpatient setting. APPROACH: A qualitative study design was employed. Data were collected from individual interviews and focus groups comprising non-physician healthcare professionals. KEY RESULTS: Knowledge gaps identified as impeding interprofessional collaboration included inadequate understanding of current roles, potential roles, and processes for non-physician healthcare professionals. Specific physician behaviors that were identified as contributing to good collaborative relationships included mutual support such as backing up other team members and prioritizing multidisciplinary rounds, and communication including keeping team members informed, asking for their input, physicians explaining their rationale, and practicing joint problem-solving with non-physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Discussion of how physician trainees can best learn to collaborate as members of an interprofessional team must include non-physician perspectives. Training designed to provide medical students and residents with a better understanding of non-physician roles and to enhance mutual support and communication skills may be critical in achieving the AAMC's goals of making physicians effective members of interprofessional teams, and thus improving patient-centered care. We hope that medical educators will include these areas identified as important by non-physicians in targeted team training for their learners.

Intracellular targeting and pharmacological activity of the superoxide dismutase mimics MnTE-2-PyP5+ and MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ regulated by their porphyrin ring substituents.

Manganese porphyrin-based drugs are potent mimics of the enzyme superoxide dismutase. They exert remarkable efficacy in disease models and are entering clinical trials. Two lead compounds, MnTE-2-PyP(5+) and MnTnHex-2-PyP(5+), have similar catalytic rates, but differ in their alkyl chain substituents (ethyl vs n-hexyl). Herein we demonstrate that these changes in ring substitution impact upon drug intracellular distribution and pharmacological mechanism, with MnTnHex-2-PyP(5+) superior in augmenting menadione toxicity. These findings establish that both catalytic activity and intracellular distribution determine drug action.

Modeling cellular compartmentation in one-carbon metabolism.

Folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism (FOCM) is associated with risk for numerous pathological states including birth defects, cancers, and chronic diseases. Although the enzymes that constitute the biological pathways have been well described and their interdependency through the shared use of folate cofactors appreciated, the biological mechanisms underlying disease etiologies remain elusive. The FOCM network is highly sensitive to nutritional status of several B-vitamins and numerous penetrant gene variants that alter network outputs, but current computational approaches do not fully capture the dynamics and stochastic noise of the system. Combining the stochastic approach with a rule-based representation will help model the intrinsic noise displayed by FOCM, address the limited flexibility of standard simulation methods for coarse-graining the FOCM-associated biochemical processes, and manage the combinatorial complexity emerging from reactions within FOCM that would otherwise be intractable.