Characteristics of office-based providers associated with secure electronic messaging use: Achieving meaningful use.

OBJECTIVES: To identify characteristics of office-based provider used as a usual source of care (USC) associated with secure electronic messaging (SM) use. DATA SOURCE: 2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component and the supplemental Medical Organizations Survey. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. EXTRACTION METHODS: Patients are linked to characteristics of their usual source of care provider. MAIN FINDINGS: We found that 89 percent of patients whose USC had electronic health records were able to exchange secure messages with their provider. Patients whose USC reported being patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) or that used other health information technology (HIT) were also more likely to have been able to exchange SM with their provider. Patients of independent group or solo practices were less likely to have been able to exchange SM relative to patients whose USC practice was hospital owned. CONCLUSIONS: Patients were more likely to have visited a USC that exchanged SMs if that practice also used other electronic health records functionalities. Study findings suggest that while patients' USC practices were likely to exchange secure messages, there is a disparity in SM use between physician-owned practices, and hospital-owned practices.

Hospitalization for Total Knee Replacement Among Inpatients Aged 45 and Over: United States, 2000-2010.

In 2010, total knee replacement was the most frequently performed inpatient procedure on adults aged 45 and over. In the 11-year period from 2000 through 2010, an estimated 5.2 million total knee replacements were performed. Adults aged 45 and over comprised 98.1% of those surgeries. This report uses data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) to present trends in the rate of hospitalizations for total knee replacement, mean age at hospitalization, and discharge status for inpatients aged 45 and over from 2000 through 2010.

Hospitalization for total hip replacement among inpatients aged 45 and over: United States, 2000-2010.

　Total hip replacement, in which both the head of the femur and its socket are replaced, is done to restore movement to hips damaged by osteoarthritis, late-stage degenerative bone and cartilage disease, or other injuries and disease (1). The number of total hip replacements is expected to increase over the next few decades (2). National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) data show trends and estimates of the number and rate of total hip replacements and average length of stay among inpatients aged 45 and over.

Record matching between the National Hospital Care Survey and the National Death Index.

Linking the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) with the National Death Index (NDI) provides information on the outcomes of hospitalizations and allows for analysis of individual and provider characteristics associated with in-hospital and post-discharge mortality. We test the viability of confirming hospital mortality through the linkage of preliminary 2011 NHCS data for "known dead" inpatient discharges (i.e., patients that died during a hospitalization) with the NDI, assessing the true match rate and the quality of the match. We then expand the analysis to identify patients with a 30-, 60-, and 90-day post-discharge mortality. The true match rate for the "known dead" is 94 percent.