Search

Objective: To determine the budget impact of implementing multidisciplinary complex pain clinics (MCPCs) for Veterans Health Administration (VA) patients living with complex chronic pain and substance use disorder comorbidities who are on risky opioid regimens. Data Sources and Study Setting: We measured implementation costs for three MCPCs over 2 years using micro-costing methods. Intervention and downstream costs were obtained from the VA Managerial Cost Accounting System from 2 years prior to 2 years after opening of MCPCs. Study Design: Staff at the three VA sites implementing MCPCs were supported by Implementation Facilitation. The intervention cohort was patients at MCPC sites who received treatment based on their history of chronic pain and risky opioid use. Intervention costs and downstream costs were estimated with a quasi-experimental study design using a propensity score-weighted difference-in-difference approach. The healthcare utilization costs of treated patients were compared with a control group having clinically similar characteristics and undergoing the standard route of care at neighboring VA medical centers. Cancer and hospice patients were excluded. Data Collection/Extraction Methods: Activity-based costing data acquired from MCPC sites were used to estimate implementation costs. Intervention and downstream costs were extracted from VA administrative data. Principal Findings: Average Implementation Facilitation costs ranged from $380 to $640 per month for each site. Upon opening of three MCPCs, average intervention costs per patient were significantly higher than the control group at two intervention sites. Downstream costs were significantly higher at only one of three intervention sites. Site-level differences were due to variation in inpatient costs, with some confounding likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This evidence suggests that necessary start-up investments are required to initiate MCPCs, with allocations of funds needed for implementation, intervention, and downstream costs. Conclusions: Incorporating implementation, intervention, and downstream costs in this evaluation provides a thorough budget impact analysis, which decision-makers may use when considering whether to expand effective programming. KEYWORDS chronic pain, costs and cost analysis, economic evaluation, healthcare costs, implementation science What is known on this topic * Opioid-related morbidity and mortality affect over 2 million Americans per year and have extraordinarily high economic and societal costs. * Healthcare systems urgently need treatment models that address patients living with chronic pain who are prescribed opioids and have substance use disorders. * Healthcare decision-makers need cost information to determine how and when to implement multidisciplinary clinics for those living with complex chronic pain. What this study adds * This study evaluates the initial start-up costs of implementing a multidisciplinary pain clinic for patients living with complex chronic pain and taking risky opioids at three distinct VA hospitals, relying on Implementation Facilitation. * Implementation of multidisciplinary complex pain clinics require fairly little funding for implementation costs and more substantial funding for intervention and downstream costs to meet the needs of serving patients living with complex chronic pain. * Relatively similar budget impacts were observed at the facility-level across all three disparate VA sites, demonstrating robust estimates when presenting this clinic to decision-makers at new sites., 1 | INTRODUCTION Opioid use disorder (OUD) and opioid overdose deaths in the United States were estimated to cost $1.02 trillion in 2017, which includes healthcare-related costs and losses in [...]

1 | INTRODUCTION Maintaining health care access is a critical priority for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Virtual care, or health care provided by phone or video, has [...], Objective: To identify which Veteran populations are routinely accessing video-based care. Data Sources and Study Setting: National, secondary administrative data from electronic health records at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 2019-2021. Study Design: This retrospective cohort analysis identified patient characteristics associated with the odds of using any video care; and then, among those with a previous video visit, the annual rate of video care utilization. Video care use was reported overall and stratified into care type (e.g., primary, mental health, and specialty video care) between March 10, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Data Collection: Veterans active in VA health care (>1 outpatient visit between March 11, 2019 and March 10, 2020) were included in this study. Principal Findings: Among 5,389,129 Veterans in this evaluation, approximately 27.4% of Veterans had at least one video visit. We found differences in video care utilization by type of video care: 14.7% of Veterans had at least one primary care video visit, 10.6% a mental health video visit, and 5.9% a specialty care video visit. Veterans with a history of housing instability had a higher overall rate of video care driven by their higher usage of video for mental health care compared with Veterans in stable housing. American Indian/Alaska Native Veterans had reduced odds of video visits, yet similar rates of video care when compared to White Veterans. Low-income Veterans had lower odds of using primary video care yet slightly elevated rates of primary video care among those with at least one video visit when compared to Veterans enrolled at VA without special considerations. Conclusions: Variation in video care utilization patterns by type of care identified Veteran populations that might require greater resources and support to initiate and sustain video care use. Our data support service specific outreach to homeless and American Indian/Alaska Native Veterans. KEYWORDS access to care, delivery of health care, COVID-19, disparities, telemedicine, Veterans

1 | INTRODUCTION Designing practical decision support tools and other types of health care technology for implementation science and quality improvement relies on a clear understanding of the cognitive processes [...], Objective: Designing practical decision support tools and other health care technology in health services research relies on a clear understanding of the cognitive processes that underlie the use of these tools. Unfortunately, methods to explore cognitive processes are rarely used in health services research. Thus, the objective of this manuscript is to introduce cognitive task analysis (CTA), a family of methods to study cognitive processes involved in completing a task, to a health services research audience. This methods article describes CTA procedures, proposes a framework for their use in health services research studies, and provides an example of its application in a pilot study. Data Sources and Study Setting: Observations and interviews of health care providers involved in discharge planning at six hospitals in the Veterans Health Administration. Study Design: Qualitative study of discharge planning using CTA. Data Collection/Extraction Methods: Data were collected from structured observations and semi-structured interviews using the Critical Decision Method and analyzed using thematic analysis. Principal Findings: We developed an adaptation of CTA that could be used in a clinical environment to describe clinical decision-making and other cognitive processes. The adapted CTA framework guides the user through four steps: (1) Planning, (2) Environmental Analysis, (3) Knowledge Elicitation, and (4) Analyses and Results. This adapted CTA framework provides an iterative and systematic approach to identifying and describing the knowledge, expertise, thought processes, procedures, actors, goals, and mental strategies that underlie completing a clinical task. Conclusions: A better understanding of the cognitive processes that underly clinical tasks is key to developing health care technology and decision-support tools that will have a meaningful impact on processes of care and patient outcomes. Our adapted framework offers a more rigorous and detailed method for identifying task-related cognitive processes in implementation studies and quality improvement. Our adaptation of this underutilized qualitative research method may be helpful to other researchers and inform future research in health services research. KEYWORDS care coordination, cognitive task analysis, discharge planning, qualitative research, surgery

What is known on this topic? * Theory predicts that an increase in the public allocation of home- and community-based services will decrease the utilization of its substitutes (e.g., institutional [...], Objective: To determine whether the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) efforts to expand access to home- and community-based services (HCBS) after the 2001 Millennium Act significantly changed Veterans' utilization of institutional, paid home, and unpaid home care relative to a non-VHA user Medicare population that was not exposed to HCBS expansion efforts. Data Sources: We used linkages between the Health and Retirement Study and VHA administrative data from 1998 until 2012. Study Design: We conducted a retrospective-matched cohort study using coarsened exact matching to ensure balance on observable characteristics for VHA users (n = 943) and nonusers (n = 6106). We used a difference-in-differences approach with a person fixed-effects estimator. Data Collection/Extraction Methods: Individuals were eligible for inclusion in the analysis if they were age 65 or older and indicated that they were covered by Medicare insurance in 1998. Individuals were excluded if they were covered by Medicaid insurance at baseline. Individuals were considered exposed to VHA HCBS expansion efforts if they were enrolled in the VHA and used VHA services. Principal Findings: Theory predicts that an increase in the public allocation of HCBS will decrease the utilization of its substitutes (e.g., institutional care and unpaid caregiving). We found that after the Millennium Act was passed, there were no observed differences between VHA users and nonusers in the probability of using institutional long-term care (0.7% points, 95% CI: -0.009, 0.022) or in receiving paid help with activities of daily living (0.06% points, 95% CI: -0.011, 0.0125). VHA users received more hours of unpaid care post-Millennium Act (1.48, 95% CI: -0.232, 3.187), though this effect was not significant once we introduced controls for mental health. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that mandating access to HCBS services does not necessarily imply that access to these services will follow suit. KEYWORDS home- and community-based services, institutional care, long-term care, unpaid caregiving, Veterans Health Administration

1 | INTRODUCTION The Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 ('Choice') was enacted in direct response to an 'access crisis' involving long waitlists and delays in care. (1)' [...], Objectives: To compare 90-day postoperative complication rates between Veterans receiving cataract surgery in VA vs Community Care (CC) during the first year of implementation of the Veterans Choice Act. Data Sources: Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 VA and CC outpatient data from VA's Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) 10/01/14-9/30/15). FY14 data were used to obtain baseline clinical information prior to surgery. Study Design: Retrospective one-year study using secondary data to compare 90-day complication rates following cataract surgery (measured using National Quality Forum (NQF) criteria) in VA vs CC. NQF defines major complications from a specified list of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. We ran a series of logistic regression models to predict 90-day complication rates, adjusting for Veterans' sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, preoperative ocular conditions, eye risk group, and type of cataract surgery (classified as routine vs complex). Data Collection: We linked VA and CC users through patient identifiers obtained from the CDW files. Our sample included all enrolled Veterans who received outpatient cataract surgery either in the VA or through CC during FY15. Cataract surgeries were identified through CPT codes 66 984 (routine) and 66 982 (complex). Principal Findings: Of the 83,879 cataract surgeries performed in FY15, 31 percent occurred through CC. Undergoing complex surgery and having a high-risk eye (based on preoperative ocular conditions) were the strongest clinical predictors of 90-day postoperative complications. Overall, we found low complication rates, ranging from 1.1 percent in low-risk eyes to 3.6 percent in high-risk eyes. After adjustment for important confounders (eg, race, rurality, and preoperative ocular conditions), there were no statistically significant differences in 90-day complication rates between Veterans receiving cataract surgery in VA vs CC. Conclusions: As more Veterans seek care through CC, future studies should continue to monitor quality of care across the two care settings to help inform VA's "make vs buy decisions." KEYWORDS community health services, postoperative complications, quality of health care, safety, veterans