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Introduction: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a well-described risk factor for mortality, but few studies have examined secular trends in mortality over time for patients with PAD. We characterized trends in mortality in patients with PAD in recent years among Medicare patients., Methods: We used Medicare claims to identify patients with a new diagnosis code for PAD between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2018 using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnosis codes. The primary outcome of interest was the 1-year all-cause age-adjusted mortality rate. Our secondary outcome was the 5-year all-cause mortality rate. Multivariable regression was used to identify factors which predict mortality at 1 year., Results: We identified 4,373,644 patients with a new diagnosis code for PAD during the study period. Between 2006 and 2018, 1-year all-cause age-adjusted mortality declined from 12.6% to 9.9% ( p < 0.001). One-year crude all-cause mortality also declined from 14.6% to 9.5% ( p < 0.001). Similar results were observed for 5-year age-adjusted mortality rates (40.9% to 35.2%, p < 0.001). Factors associated with increased risk of death at 1 year included age ⩾ 85 years (hazard ratio [HR] 3.030; 95% CI 3.008-3.053) and congestive heart failure (HR 1.86; 95% CI 1.85-1.88). Patients who were regularly dispensed statins, ace-inhibitors, beta-blockers, antithrombotic agents, and anticoagulants all had lower mortality (range OR 0.36; CI 0.35-0.37 for statins to OR 0.60; CI 0.59-0.61 for anticoagulants; all p < 0.001)., Conclusion: Among US Medicare patients diagnosed with PAD between 2006 and 2019, 1-year age-adjusted mortality declined by 2.7%. This decline in mortality among patients with PAD occurred in the context of a younger mean age of diagnosis of PAD and improved cardiovascular prevention therapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Marc P Bonaca reports grant support to Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) from AstraZeneca, Amgen, Daiichi Sankyo, and Merck and grant support to Colorado Prevention Center Clinical Research from AstraZeneca, Amgen, and Sanofi. Mary M McDermott has received grant funding from Helixmith and research support from Helixmith, ChromaDex, Mars, Inc., ArtAssist, and Reserveage. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest.

Objective: Prior studies have described risk factors associated with amputation in patients with concomitant diabetes and peripheral arterial disease (DM/PAD). However, the association between the severity and extent of tissue loss type and amputation risk remains less well-described. We aimed to quantify the role of different tissue loss types in amputation risk among patients with DM/PAD, in the context of demographic, preventive, and socioeconomic factors., Methods: Applying International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 and ICD-10 codes to Medicare claims data (2007-2019), we identified all patients with continuous fee-for-service Medicare coverage diagnosed with DM/PAD. Eight tissue loss categories were established using ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnosis codes, ranging from lymphadenitis (least severe) to gangrene (most severe). We created a Cox proportional hazards model to quantify associations between tissue loss type and 1- and 5-year amputation risk, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, sex, rurality, income, comorbidities, and preventive factors. Regional variation in DM/PAD rates and risk-adjusted amputation rates was examined at the hospital referral region level., Results: We identified 12,257,174 patients with DM/PAD (48% male, 76% White, 10% prior myocardial infarction, 30% chronic kidney disease). Although 2.2 million patients (18%) had some form of tissue loss, 10.0 million patients (82%) did not. The 1-year crude amputation rate (major and minor) was 6.4% in patients with tissue loss, and 0.4% in patients without tissue loss. Among patients with tissue loss, the 1-year any amputation rate varied from 0.89% for patients with lymphadenitis to 26% for patients with gangrene. The 1-year amputation risk varied from two-fold for patients with lymphadenitis (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.96; 95% confidence interval, 1.43-2.69) to 29-fold for patients with gangrene (adjusted hazard ratio, 28.7; 95% confidence interval, 28.1-29.3), compared with patients without tissue loss. No other demographic variable including age, sex, race, or region incurred a hazard ratio for 1- or 5-year amputation risk higher than the least severe tissue loss category. Results were similar across minor and major amputation, and 1- and 5-year amputation outcomes. At a regional level, higher DM/PAD rates were inversely correlated with risk-adjusted 5-year amputation rates (R 2  = 0.43)., Conclusions: Among 12 million patients with DM/PAD, the most significant predictor of amputation was the presence and extent of tissue loss, with an association greater in effect size than any other factor studied. Tissue loss could be used in awareness campaigns as a simple marker of high-risk patients. Patients with any type of tissue loss require expedited wound care, revascularization as appropriate, and infection management to avoid amputation. Establishing systems of care to provide these interventions in regions with high amputation rates may prove beneficial for these populations., Competing Interests: Disclosures None., (Copyright © 2024 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The linkage of registries to Medicare claims data can help extend follow-up for patients receiving medical devices. In the present study, we tested and validated an algorithm that does not require patient identifiers to link data from a national vascular registry and Medicare claims data., Methods: We used data from the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), a registry capturing data from >600 centers for several different vascular procedures, and Medicare claims from 2003 to 2018. We restricted the study to patients aged ≥65 years who had fee-for-service entitlement at their procedure. We performed an indirect linkage to combine the VQI and Medicare data at the patient level using a sequential algorithm based on the patient's date of birth, sex, zip code, procedure date, and procedure facility. We compared the indirectly linked cohort against a reference standard of a cohort directly linked using Social Security numbers. We calculated the matching rate and accuracy overall and before and after October 2015 when the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) system was adopted in the United States., Results: A total of 144,045 VQI-Medicare-linked patients were in the reference standard cohort. Using the indirect linking algorithm, we matched 133,966 of the 144,045 VQI patients to their Medicare claims with a matching rate of 93.0%. Of the 133,966 patients, 133,104 were correctly matched (matching accuracy, 99.4%). The matching rate was higher when the indirect linkage was implemented using the ICD-10 coded data than using the ICD-9 coded data (94.0% vs 92.2%). The accuracy of the indirect linkage remained high for all procedure modules after the ICD-10 coding change (overall, 99.4%; range, 99.0%-99.7%)., Conclusions: In the present study, we successfully used indirect identifiers to link the VQI data to Medicare claims with >90% success and >99% accuracy. When direct linkage of the registry claims data using Social Security numbers is not possible because of availability or confidentiality, or both, our algorithm for indirect linkage provides a suitable alternative. The matching rate and accuracy will help ensure the accuracy of long-term follow-up and the completeness and representativeness of linked databases for relevant research and quality improvement initiatives., (Copyright © 2022 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVR) has a major financial impact on health care systems. We characterized reimbursement for index EVR hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries having surgery at Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) centers., Methods: We linked Medicare claims to VQI clinical registry data for patients undergoing EVR from 2003 to 2015. Analysis was limited to patients fully covered by fee-for-service Medicare parts A and B in the year of their operation and assigned a corresponding diagnosis-related group for EVR. The primary outcome was Medicare's reimbursement for inpatient hospital and professional services, adjusted to 2015 dollars. We performed descriptive analysis of reimbursement over time and univariate analysis to evaluate patient demographics, clinical characteristics, procedural variables, and postoperative events associated with reimbursement. This informed a multilevel regression model used to identify factors independently associated with EVR reimbursement and quantify VQI center-level variation in reimbursement., Results: We studied 9,403 Medicare patients who underwent EVR at VQI centers during the study period. Reimbursements declined from $37,450 ± $9,350 (mean ± standard deviation) in 2003 to $27,723 ± $10,613 in 2015 (test for trend, P < 0.001). For patients experiencing a complication (n = 773; 8.2%), mean reimbursement for EVR was $44,858 ± $23,825 versus $28,857 ± $9,258 for those without complications (P < 0.001). Intestinal ischemia, new dialysis requirement, and respiratory compromise each doubled Medicare's average reimbursement for EVR. After adjusting for diagnosis-related group, several patient-level factors were independently associated with higher Medicare reimbursement; these included ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (+$2,372), additional day in length of stay (+$1,275), and being unfit for open repair (+$501). Controlling for patient-level factors, 4-fold variation in average reimbursement was seen across VQI centers., Conclusions: Reimbursement for EVR declined between 2003 and 2015. We identified preoperative clinical factors independently associated with reimbursement and quantified the impact of different postoperative complications on reimbursement. More work is needed to better understand the substantial variation observed in reimbursement at the center level., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Accurate and complete long-term postoperative outcome data are critical to improving value in health care delivery. The Society for Vascular Surgery Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) is an important tool to achieve this goal in vascular surgery. To improve on the capture of long-term outcomes after vascular surgery procedures for patients in the VQI, we sought to match VQI data to Medicare claims for comprehensive capture of major clinical outcomes in the first several years after vascular procedures., Methods: Patient and procedure characteristics for abdominal aortic aneurysm procedures captured in the Society for Vascular Surgery VQI between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2013, were matched to Medicare claims data using an indirect identifier methodology. Late outcomes captured in the VQI and in Medicare claims were compared., Results: Matching procedures yielded 9895 endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) patients (82.4% of eligible VQI patients) and 3405 open aneurysm repair (OAR) patients (74.4% of eligible). Comparison of patients who did and did not match to a Medicare claim demonstrated similar patient and procedure characteristics. Evaluation of late outcomes revealed good patient-level agreement on mortality for both EVAR (κ, 0.64) and OAR (κ, 0.82). Postoperative reintervention rates demonstrated lower agreement for both EVAR (κ, 0.26) and OAR (κ, 0.16)., Conclusions: This work demonstrates the feasibility of an algorithm using indirect identifiers to match VQI patients and procedures to Medicare claims data. The refinement of this strategy will focus on establishing and improving algorithms related to identifying and categorizing late events after EVAR and may serve as a mechanism to ensure that the best quality follow-up information is achieved within the VQI., (Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)