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Background: Evaluating training and tools used in research is a valuable approach to determine reliability, type-3 errors, and areas of improvement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ease of use and the effectiveness of the Healthy Campus Environmental Audits (HCEA) training/quizzes and tools utilized in the GetFRUVED social media intervention study. Methods: HCEA assesses the healthfulness of dining/restaurants, convenience stores, vending, recreation services/programs, walkability/bike-ability and policies. Quiz attempts, and results were tracked. A 39-question web-based survey designed and pilot-tested for this study was administered online to 88 GetFRUVED participating schools. The survey questions assessed demographics, training materials/platform, quizzes, and each specific HCEA audit tool. The survey collected both Likert scale [1-low to 5-high] and qualitative data; analysis included non-parametric statistics. Results: Participants included 163 individuals, 51.3% underclass research assistants. Most participants (50%) spent 1-2 hours on training for their audit and majority (66%) viewed the training while taking the quiz. Most of the survey questions regarding audit ease of use/effectiveness scored on average between 3.0 and 4.0. Of the 62 strengths/benefits open-ended responses, 31% indicated HCEA audit tool was easy to use. Of the 58 improvement comments, 16% had technology issues while using the audits; yet 38% wouldn’t make any changes to the HCEA audit tool. Conclusion: From these results, we can conclude that the HCEA training and audit tools can be useful and reliable in future projects, but we must add in some stop gaps between training and quizzes and improve some technology issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To estimate the mean annual per capita cost of care provided to disabled adult Medicaid recipients with neurologic conditions and to compare mean annual costs for disabled adult Medicaid recipients with those of nondisabled adult Medicaid recipients., Study Design: Medicaid eligibility and claims files for all of calendar year 1993 were obtained from the state of Pennsylvania. Mean annual per capita costs are mean Medicaid expenditures on claims filed for Medicaid-covered services and pharmaceuticals provided in 1993 to full-year eligible Medicaid recipients., Patients and Methods: Disabled adults aged 18 to 64 years with one or more of several neurologic conditions were identified from medical diagnoses (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision codes) reported on claims. A comparison group of nondisabled adults was chosen from the Medicaid Eligibility File. Annual costs were estimated for a wide range of specific services as well as for 3 broad service categories., Results: There were large differences between disabled and nondisabled adults in mean annual per capita costs of acute care and other medical services ($4142 vs $1451), rehabilitation and support services ($3835 vs $235), and pharmaceuticals ($1116 vs $382). Mean costs also differed significantly among persons with different neurologic conditions. The mean annual per capita cost for all services was $5368 for adults with epilepsy and $19,356 for those with a spinal cord injury. All differences are statistically significant (P < .001)., Conclusions: States may want to separately capitate rehabilitation and support services given the large differences in the magnitude and relative distribution of costs for disabled and nondisabled Medicaid recipients.

Hospitals that file inaccurate Medicaid claims may be the dupes in a new federal initiative to finance expansion of the government's civil enforcement efforts, a Modern Healthcare reveals. A look at eight settlements by hospitals in Pennsylvania over false claims shows growing collaboration between the state, HHS' office of the inspector general and the U.S. Justice Dept. Modern Healthcare found that the amount of the Pennsylvania settlements, some $500,000, was identical to the amount given back to the Justice Dept. to further boost their policing efforts. Attorneys believe such collaborative efforts are likely to spread nationwide.

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health Care's risk-management program, which espouses early intervention, prevention and the maximum use of in-house resources to control costs and liability, has won the first award for excellence in healthcare risk management, given by Modern Healthcare and the MMI Cos. York (Pa.) Hospital was given special recognition for its project to reduce intravenous medication errors.