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ImportanceRecent legislation expanded veterans’ access to Veterans Health Administration (VA)-purchased care. Quality should be considered when choosing where to get total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but currently available quality metrics provide little guidance.ObjectiveTo determine whether an association exists between the proportion of TKAs performed (vs purchased) at each VA facility and the quality of care provided (as measured by short-term complication rates).Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis 3-year cohort study used VA and community care data (fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2019) from the VA’s Corporate Data Warehouse. Complications were defined following the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ methodology. The setting included 140 VA health care facilities performing or purchasing TKAs. Participants included veterans who had 43 371 primary TKA procedures that were either VA-performed or VA-purchased during the study period.ExposuresOf the 43 371 primary TKA procedures, 18 964 (43.7%) were VA-purchased.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary outcome was risk-standardized short-term complication rates of VA-performed or VA-purchased TKAs. The association between the proportion of TKAs performed at each VA facility and quality of VA-performed and VA-purchased care was examined using a regression model. Subgroups were also identified for facilities that had complication rates above or below the overall mean complication rate and for facilities that performed more or less than half of the facility’s TKAs.ResultsAmong the study sample’s 41 775 veterans who underwent 43 371 TKAs, 38 725 (89.3%) were male, 6406 (14.8%) were Black, 33 211 (76.6%) were White, and 1367 (3.2%) had other race or ethnicity (including American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander); mean (SD) age was 66.9 (8.5) years. VA-performed and VA-purchased TKAs had a mean (SD) raw overall short-term complication rate of 2.97% (0.08%). There was no association between the proportion of TKAs performed in VA facilities and risk-standardized complication rates for VA-performed TKAs, and no association for VA-purchased TKAs.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this cohort study, surgical quality did not have an association with where veterans had TKA, possibly because meaningful comparative data are lacking. Reporting local and community risk-standardized complication rates may inform veterans’ decisions and improve care. Combining these data with the proportion of TKAs performed at each site could facilitate administrative decisions on where resources should be allocated to improve care.

Timely access to outpatient care was a primary driver behind the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA's) increased purchase of community-based care under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, known as the Choice Act. To compare veterans' experiences in VA-delivered and community-based outpatient care after implementation of the act, we assessed veterans' scores on four dimensions of experience-access, communication, coordination, and provider rating-for outpatient specialty, primary, and mental health care received during 2016-17. Patient experiences were better for VA than for community care in all respects except access. For specialty care, access scores were better in the community; for primary and mental health care, access scores were similar in the two settings. Although all specialty care scores and the primary care coordination score improved over time, the gaps between settings did not shrink. As purchased care further expands under the VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018, which replaced the Choice Act in 2019, monitoring of meaningful differences between settings should continue, with the results used to inform both VA purchasing decisions and patients' care choices.

This cohort study examines changes in the use of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA hospitals by VA enrollees and mortality associated with these policies.

To examine outpatient care fragmentation and its association with future hospitalization among patients at high risk for hospitalization.Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicare data.We conducted a longitudinal study, using logistic regression to examine how outpatient care fragmentation in FY14 (as measured by number of unique providers, Breslau's Usual Provider of Care (UPC), Bice-Boxerman's Continuity of Care Index (COCI), and Modified Modified Continuity Index (MMCI)) was associated with all-cause hospitalizations and hospitalizations related to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) in FY15. We also examined how fragmentation varied by patient's age, gender, race, ethnicity, marital status, rural status, history of homelessness, number of chronic conditions, Medicare utilization, and mental health care utilization.We extracted data for 130,704 VA patients ≥65 years old with a hospitalization risk ≥90th percentile and ≥ four outpatient visits in the baseline year.The mean (SD) of FY14 outpatient visits was 13.2 (8.6). Fragmented care (more providers, less care with a usual provider, more dispersed care based on COCI) was more common among patients with more chronic conditions and those receiving mental health care. In adjusted models, most fragmentation measures were not associated with all-cause hospitalization, and patients with low levels of fragmentation (more concentrated care based on UPC, COCI, and MMCI) had a higher likelihood of an ACSC-related hospitalization (AOR, 95% CI = 1.21 (1.09-1.35), 1.27 (1.14-1.42), and 1.28 (1.18-1.40), respectively).Contrary to expectations, outpatient care fragmentation was not associated with elevated all-cause hospitalization rates among VA patients in the top 10th percentile for risk of admission; in fact, fragmented care was linked to lower rates of hospitalization for ACSCs. In integrated settings such as the VA, multiple providers, and dispersed care might offer access to timely or specialized care that offsets risks of fragmentation, particularly for conditions that are sensitive to ambulatory care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) both delivers health care in its own facilities and, increasingly, purchases care for veterans in the community. Policy makers, administrators, health care providers, and veterans frequently face decisions about which services should be delivered versus purchased by the VA. Comparisons of quality across settings are essential if veterans are to receive care that is consistently accessible, patient centered, effective, and safe. We compared risk-adjusted major postoperative complication rates for total knee arthroplasties that were delivered in VA facilities versus purchased from community providers. Overall, adjusted complication rates were significantly lower for arthroplasties delivered by the VA compared with those that were purchased. However, hospital-level comparisons revealed five locations where VA-purchased care outperformed VA-delivered care. As the amount of VA-purchased care continues to increase under the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 and the VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018, these results support VA monitoring of overall and local comparative hospital performance to improve the quality of the care that the VA delivers while ensuring optimal outcomes in VA-purchased care.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether physical therapy use influenced subsequent use of musculoskeletal-related surgeries, injections, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and other imaging.We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged 18 to 64 years who had an ambulatory care visit at the University of Utah system, after implementation of the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems with adequate data collection in the system at the time of the data pull, between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2018. We identified patients (n = 85 186) who received care for a musculoskeletal condition (lower back pain, cervical, knee, shoulder, hip, elbow, ankle, wrist/hand, thoracic, and arthritis diagnoses). Regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between physical therapy use and medical care use while controlling for relevant factors.In patients referred to physical therapy (n = 15 870), physical therapy use (n = 3812) was associated with increased MRI use (incidence rate ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-1.33; P.001) and surgery use (incidence rate ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-1.23; P.001). Several other factors were also associated with increased health care use, including being referred by an orthopedic provider, obesity, non-lower back pain diagnoses, and having 1 or more comorbidities.Outpatient physical therapy use for musculoskeletal conditions in adult patients younger than 65 years at the University of Utah system, a mountain west United States academic health care system, was associated with increased rates of MRI and surgery. This finding is contrary to prior research suggesting that physical therapy improves outcomes in some diagnosis groups. A referral from an orthopedic provider, non-lower back pain diagnoses, and obesity were also associated with increased medical care utilization.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Spine surgery in Medicare patients has increased in recent years and its use is variable across geographic regions. Corresponding wide variation in costs are also well-documented. Provider care intensity, a marker for discretionary care (eg, unnecessary imaging, tests, injections, and visits), is the component of spending variation that is independent of patient severity, age, and regional pricing. It is unknown if greater provider care intensity is associated with improved safety, as we might expect from value-based care. PURPOSE To determine if increased provider care intensity was associated with safety among five Medicare cohorts undergoing spinal surgery. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING Retrospective analysis of Medicare claims, 2013-2017. PATIENT SAMPLE We included beneficiaries (age 65+) undergoing inpatient spinal surgery as defined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, including “cervical fusion,” “fusion, except cervical,” “anterior-posterior combined fusion,” “complex fusion,” and “back or neck surgery, except fusion.” Claims included variables on age, sex and race, as well as codes from the International Classification of Diseases, used to calculate the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Regional 90-day episode costs for the five cohorts ranged from a low of $32,384 for cervical fusion to a high of $123,388 for complex fusion. OUTCOME MEASURES Safety was measured as mortality, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, and all-cause readmission over the first 90-days following surgery. METHODS Patients were classified by the Hospital Referral Region (HRR) where surgery occurred. Regions were grouped into quintiles based on the Dartmouth Atlas End-of-Life Expenditure Index (EOL), reflecting spending variation due to practice care intensity. Multivariable regression examined the association between care intensity and our safety measures, controlling for age, sex, race, and comorbidity. To further mitigate unobserved confounding by indication, we also added year and hospital fixed-effects parameters, and applied EOL as an instrumental variable. RESULTS Within each cohort, we observed a 4-fold variation in 90-day episode cost across HRRs. Spine-specific spending was correlated with EOL quintile, confirming that spending variation is due to provider care intensity more than pricing, age, or illness severity. Greater spending across EOL quintile was not associated with improved safety, and in-fact, was associated with significantly worse outcomes in some cohorts. For example, all-cause readmission was greater in the high spending quintile relative to the low spending quintile among the “Fusion, except cervical” cohort (14.2% vs 13.1%; OR 1.10; 95% CI 1.05 – 1.20; p CONCLUSIONS Wide variation in regional 90-day episode-of-care spine spending was not explained by differences in patient severity, age, or regional pricing. Hospitals in the highest spending quintile spent between $10,378 (back & neck) to $35,533 (complex fusion) more per patient than those in the lowest quintile, but increased spending did not result in enhanced safety. These findings point to inefficient and potentially wasteful use of health care resources, which should be a focus of payment reforms. FDA DEVICE/DRUG STATUS This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs.

Veterans experiencing homelessness frequently use emergency and urgent care (ED).To examine the effect of a Patient-aligned Care Team (PACT) model tailored to the unique needs of Veterans experiencing homelessness (H-PACT) on frequency and type of ED visits in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical facilities.During a 12-month period, ED visits for 3981 homeless Veterans enrolled in (1) H-PACT at 20 VHA medical centers (enrolled) were compared with those of (2) 24,363 homeless Veterans not enrolled in H-PACT at the same sites (nonenrolled), and (3) 23,542 homeless Veterans at 12 non-H-PACT sites (usual care) using a difference-in-differences approach.The primary outcome was ED and other health care utilization and the secondary outcome was emergent (not preventable/avoidable) ED visits.H-PACT enrollees were predominantly white males with a higher baseline Charlson comorbidity index. In comparing H-PACT enrollees with usual care, there was a significant decrease in ED usage among the highest ED utilizers (difference-in-differences, -4.43; P0.001). The decrease in ED visits were significant though less intense for H-PACT enrollees versus nonenrolled (-0.29, P0.001). H-PACT enrollees demonstrated a significant increase in the proportion of ED care visits that were not preventable/avoidable in the 6 months after enrollment, but had stable rates of primary care, mental health, social work, and substance abuse visits over the 12 months.Primary care treatment engagement can reduce ED visits and increase appropriate use of ED services in VHA for Veterans experiencing homelessness, especially in the highest ED utilizers.

OBJECTIVES Care coordination for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is a persistent challenge. Timely outpatient follow-up after detoxification from alcohol and opiates is associated with improved outcomes, leading some care systems to attempt to measure and incentivize this practice. This study evaluated the predictive validity of a 7-day outpatient follow-up after detoxification quality measure used by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). METHODS A national sample of patients who received detoxification from alcohol or opiates (N = 25,354) was identified in VHA administrative data. Propensity score-weighted mixed-effects regressions modeled associations between receiving an outpatient follow-up visit within 7 days of completing detoxification and patient outcomes, controlling for facility-level performance and clustering of patients within facilities. RESULTS Baseline differences between patients who did (39.6%) and did not (60.4%) receive the follow-up visit were reduced or eliminated with propensity score weighting. Meeting the quality measure was associated with significantly more outpatient treatment for SUD (b = 1.07 visits) and other mental health conditions (b = 0.58 visits), and higher inpatient utilization for SUD (b = 0.75 admissions) and other mental health conditions (b = 0.76 admissions). Notably, meeting the quality measure was associated with 53.3% lower odds of 2-year mortality (P

Background In 2008, hospitals were selected to participate in the California Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention Initiative (CHAIPI). This research evaluates the impact of CHAIPI on hospital adoption and implementation of evidence-based patient safety practices and reduction of health care–associated infection (HAI) rates. Methods Statewide computer-assisted telephone surveys of California's general acute care hospitals were conducted in 2008 and 2010 (response rates, 80% and 76%, respectively). Difference-in-difference analyses were used to compare changes in process and HAI rate outcomes in CHAIPI hospitals (n = 34) and non-CHAIPI hospitals (n = 149) that responded to both waves of the survey. Results Compared with non-CHAIPI hospitals, CHAIPI hospitals demonstrated greater improvements between 2008 and 2010 in adoption (P = .021) and implementation (P = .012) of written evidence-based practices for overall patient safety and prevention of HAIs and in assessing their compliance (P = .033) with these practices. However, there were no significant differences in the changes in HAI rates between CHAIPI and non-CHAIPI hospitals over this time period. Conclusions Participation in the CHAIPI collaborative was associated with significant improvements in evidence-based patient safety practices in hospitals. However, determining how evidence-based practices translate into changes in HAI rates may take more time. Our results suggest that all hospitals be offered the opportunity to participate in an active learning collaborative to improve patient safety.

Background This research analyzes the relationship between hospital use of automated surveillance technology (AST) for identification and control of hospital-acquired infections (HAI) and implementation of evidence-based infection control practices. Our hypothesis is that hospitals that use AST have made more progress implementing infection control practices than hospitals that rely on manual surveillance. Methods A survey of all acute general care hospitals in California was conducted from October 2008 through January 2009. A structured computer-assisted telephone interview was conducted with the quality director of each hospital. The final sample includes 241 general acute care hospitals (response rate, 83%). Results Approximately one third (32.4%) of California's hospitals use AST for monitoring HAI. Adoption of AST is statistically significant and positively associated with the depth of implementation of evidence-based practices for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and ventilator-associated pneumonia and adoption of contact precautions and surgical care infection practices. Use of AST is also statistically significantly associated with the breadth of hospital implementation of evidence-based practices across all 5 targeted HAI. Conclusion Our findings suggest that hospitals using AST can achieve greater depth and breadth in implementing evidenced-based infection control practices.

One way to motivate hospitals to improve patient safety is to publicly report their rates of hospital-acquired infections, as California is starting to do this year. We conducted a baseline study of California's acute care hospitals just before mandatory reporting of hospital-acquired infection rates to the state began, in 2008. We found variability in many areas: For example, 70.1 percent of hospitals said that they were fully implementing evidence-based guidelines to fight infection by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but 22.8 percent of hospitals had not adopted any. Our analysis showed that rural hospitals, many of which lack resources to implement needed procedures, faced the greatest challenges in reporting and improving infection rates. Our findings should be of interest to Medicare policy makers who will implement the hospital-acquired infection performance measures in the Affordable Care Act, and to leaders in the thirty-eight states that have enacted legislation requiring reports of hospital-acquired infection rates. California's baseline data also present a unique opportunity to assess the impact of mandatory and public reporting laws.