Publications

IMPORTANCE: Lack of insurance is associated with worse care and outcomes among adults hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). It is unclear whether states' decision to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2014 were associated with improved quality of care and outcomes among low-income patients hospitalized with AMI.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether rates of uninsurance, quality of care, and outcomes changed among patients hospitalized for AMI 3 years after states elected to expand Medicaid compared with nonexpansion states.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cohort study completed at hospitals participating in National Cardiovascular Data Registry Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network Registry. Participants were patients younger than 65 years hospitalized for AMI from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016.

EXPOSURES: State Medicaid expansion in 2014.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Rates of uninsured and Medicaid-insured hospitalizations for AMI in states that expanded Medicaid vs those that did not. Comparison of in-hospital care quality, procedure use, and mortality between expansion and nonexpansion states for the years prior to and after Medicaid expansion. Hierarchical logistic regressions models were used to assess the association between Medicaid expansion and outcomes.

RESULTS: The initial cohort included 325 343 patients. Uninsured AMI hospitalizations declined in expansion states (18.0% [4395 of 24 358 hospitalizations] to 8.4% [2638 of 31 382 hospitalizations]) and more modestly in nonexpansion states (25.6% [7963 of 31 137 hospitalizations] to 21.1% [8668 of 41 120 hospitalizations]) from 2012 to 2016 (P < .001 difference in trend expansion vs nonexpansion). Medicaid coverage increased from 7.5% (1818 of 24 358 hospitalizations) to 14.4% (4502 of 31 382 hospitalizations) in expansion states and 6.2% (1924 of 31 137 hospitalizations) to 6.6% (2717 of 41 120 hospitalizations) in nonexpansion states (P < .001). The low-income cohort included 55 737 patients across 765 sites. In expansion states, low-income adults' odds of receipt of defect-free care increased (76.3% to 75.9%, adjusted odds ratio 1.11; 95% CI, 1.02-1.21) but to a lesser degree than in nonexpansion states (72.8% to 74.5%, adjusted odds ratio, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.30-1.47; P for interaction < .001). There was no change in use of most procedures (ie, percutaneous coronary intervention for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction) in expansion compared with nonexpansion states. Improvement in in-hospital mortality was similar between expansion and nonexpansion states (3.2% to 2.8%, adjusted odds ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.77-1.12 vs 3.3% to 3.0%, adjusted odds ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.73-0.99; P for interaction = .48).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Medicaid expansion was associated with a significant reduction in rates of uninsurance among patients hospitalized with AMI. Quality of care and outcomes did not improve among low-income adults in expansion compared with nonexpansion states. Hospital care for AMI may be less sensitive to insurance than has been recognized in the past.

This study examines the appropriate use of percutaneous coronary interventions in New York, Michigan, and Florida using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project state databases.

OBJECTIVES: In the United States, an estimated 553,000 people are homeless on any given night. Few data provide large-scale, contemporary insight with regard to recent patterns of acute illness in this vulnerable population. We evaluated patterns, causes, and outcomes of acute hospitalization among homeless persons compared with a demographics-standardized and risk-standardized nonhomeless cohort.

METHODS: Retrospective study comparing 185,292 hospitalizations for homeless individuals and 32,322,569 hospitalizations for demographics-standardized nonhomeless individuals between 2007 and 2013 in Massachusetts, Florida, and California. Annual hospitalization rates for homeless persons were calculated and causes of hospitalization were compared with a demographics-standardized nonhomeless cohort. Logistic and linear regression models were used to estimate risk-standardized outcomes.

RESULTS: From 2007 to 2013, hospitalizations for the homeless increased in Massachusetts (294 to 420 hospitalizations per 1000 homeless residents), Florida (161 to 240/1000), and California (133 to 164/1000). Homeless patients were on average 46 years of age, often male (76.1%), white (62%), and either uninsured (41.9%) or insured by Medicaid (31.7%). Hospitalizations for homeless persons, compared with demographics-standardized nonhomeless, were more frequently for mental illness and substance use disorder (52% vs. 18%, P<0.001). Homeless compared with risk-standardized nonhomeless individuals had lower in-hospital mortality rates (0.9% vs. 1.2%, P<0.001), longer mean length of stay (6.5 vs. 5.9 d, P<0.001), and lower mean costs per day ($1 535 vs. $1 834, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalizations among homeless persons are rising. Despite greater policy and public health focus over the last few decades, mental illness and substance use remain primary drivers of acute hospitalization among homeless adults. Policy efforts should address barriers to the use of ambulatory care services, and behavioral health services in particular, to help reduce acute care use and improve the long-term health of homeless individuals.

IMPORTANCE: Patients who survive acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have a high risk of subsequent major cardiovascular events. Efforts to identify risk factors for recurrence have primarily focused on the period immediately following AMI admission.

OBJECTIVES: To identify risk factors and develop and evaluate a risk model that predicts 1-year cardiovascular events after AMI.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective cohort study. Patients with AMI (n = 4227), aged 18 years or older, discharged alive from 53 acute-care hospitals across China from January 1, 2013, to July 17, 2014. Patients were randomly divided into samples: training (50% [2113 patients]), test (25% [1057 patients]), and validation (25% [1057 patients]). Risk factors were identified by a Cox model with Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation and further evaluated by latent class analysis. Analyses were conducted from May 1, 2017, to January 21, 2018.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Major cardiovascular events, including recurrent AMI, stroke, heart failure, and death, within 1 year after discharge for the index AMI hospitalization.

RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the cohort was 60.8 (11.8) years and 994 of 4227 patients (23.5%) were female. Common comorbidities included hypertension (2358 patients [55.8%]), coronary heart disease (1798 patients [42.5%]), and dyslipidemia (1290 patients [30.5%]). One-year event rates were 8.1% (95% CI, 6.91%-9.24%), 9.0% (95% CI, 7.22%-10.70%), and 6.4% (95% CI, 4.89%-7.85%) for the training, test, and validation samples, respectively. Nineteen risk factors comprising 15 unique variables (age, education, prior AMI, prior ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation, hypertension, angina, prearrival medical assistance, >4 hours from onset of symptoms to admission, ejection fraction, renal dysfunction, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, white blood cell count, blood glucose, and in-hospital complications) were identified. In the training, test, and validation samples, respectively, the risk model had C statistics of 0.79 (95% CI, 0.75-0.83), 0.73 (95% CI, 0.68-0.78), and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.70-0.83) and a predictive range of 1.2% to 33.9%, 1.2% to 37.9%, and 1.3% to 34.3%. The C statistic was 0.69 (95% CI, 0.65-0.74) for the latent class model in the training data. The risk model stratified 11.3%, 81.0%, and 7.7% of patients to high-, average-, and low-risk groups, with respective probabilities of 0.32, 0.06, and 0.01 for 1-year events.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Nineteen risk factors were identified, and a model was developed and evaluated to predict risk of 1-year cardiovascular events after AMI. This may aid clinicians in identifying high-risk patients who would benefit most from intensive follow-up and aggressive risk factor reduction.

IMPORTANCE: The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) has been associated with a reduction in readmission rates for heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and pneumonia. It is unclear whether the HRRP has been associated with change in patient mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the HRRP was associated with a change in patient mortality.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cohort study of hospitalizations for HF, AMI, and pneumonia among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged at least 65 years across 4 periods from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2015. Period 1 and period 2 occurred before the HRRP to establish baseline trends (April 2005-September 2007 and October 2007-March 2010). Period 3 and period 4 were after HRRP announcement (April 2010 to September 2012) and HRRP implementation (October 2012 to March 2015).

EXPOSURES: Announcement and implementation of the HRRP.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Inverse probability-weighted mortality within 30 days of discharge following hospitalization for HF, AMI, and pneumonia, and stratified by whether there was an associated readmission. An additional end point was mortality within 45 days of initial hospital admission for target conditions.

RESULTS: The study cohort included 8.3 million hospitalizations for HF, AMI, and pneumonia, among which 7.9 million (mean age, 79.6 [8.7] years; 53.4% women) were alive at discharge. There were 3.2 million hospitalizations for HF, 1.8 million for AMI, and 3.0 million for pneumonia. There were 270 517 deaths within 30 days of discharge for HF, 128 088 for AMI, and 246 154 for pneumonia. Among patients with HF, 30-day postdischarge mortality increased before the announcement of the HRRP (0.27% increase from period 1 to period 2). Compared with this baseline trend, HRRP announcement (0.49% increase from period 2 to period 3; difference in change, 0.22%, P = .01) and implementation (0.52% increase from period 3 to period 4; difference in change, 0.25%, P = .001) were significantly associated with an increase in postdischarge mortality. Among patients with AMI, HRRP announcement was associated with a decline in postdischarge mortality (0.18% pre-HRRP increase vs 0.08% post-HRRP announcement decrease; difference in change, -0.26%; P = .01) and did not significantly change after HRRP implementation. Among patients with pneumonia, postdischarge mortality was stable before HRRP (0.04% increase from period 1 to period 2), but significantly increased after HRRP announcement (0.26% post-HRRP announcement increase; difference in change, 0.22%, P = .01) and implementation (0.44% post-HPPR implementation increase; difference in change, 0.40%, P < .001). The overall increase in mortality among patients with HF and pneumonia was mainly related to outcomes among patients who were not readmitted but died within 30 days of discharge. For all 3 conditions, HRRP implementation was not significantly associated with an increase in mortality within 45 days of admission, relative to pre-HRRP trends.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among Medicare beneficiaries, the HRRP was significantly associated with an increase in 30-day postdischarge mortality after hospitalization for HF and pneumonia, but not for AMI. Given the study design and the lack of significant association of the HRRP with mortality within 45 days of admission, further research is needed to understand whether the increase in 30-day postdischarge mortality is a result of the policy.

IMPORTANCE: The US News & World Report (USNWR) identifies the "Best Hospitals" for "Cardiology and Heart Surgery." These rankings may have significant influence on patients and hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether USNWR top-ranked hospitals perform better than nonranked hospitals on mortality rates and readmission measures as well as patient satisfaction.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This national retrospective study evaluated outcomes at 3552 US hospitals from 2014 to 2017.

EXPOSURES: US News & World Report 2018 to 2019 Cardiology and Heart Surgery rankings (top-ranked vs nonranked hospitals).

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Hospital-level 30-day risk-standardized mortality and readmission rates for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries age 65 years or older hospitalized for 3 cardiovascular conditions: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) as well as Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient satisfaction star ratings obtained from publicly available Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services data.

RESULTS: Thirty-day mortality rates at top-ranked hospitals (n = 50), compared with nonranked hospitals (n = 3502), were lower for AMI (11.9% vs 13.2%, P < .001), HF (9.5% vs 11.9%; P < .001), and CABG (2.3%vs 3.3%; P < .001). Thirty-day readmission rates at the top-ranked hospitals (n = 50) when compared with nonranked hospitals (n = 2841) were similar for AMI (16.7% vs 16.5%; P = .64) and CABG (14.1% vs 13.7%; P = .15) but higher for HF (21.0% vs 19.2%; P < .001), Finally, patient satisfaction was higher at top-ranked hospitals (n = 50) compared with nonranked hospitals (n = 3412) (3.9 vs 3.3; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: We found that USNWR top-ranked hospitals for cardiovascular care had lower 30-day mortality rates for AMI, HF, and CABG and higher patient satisfaction ratings compared with nonranked hospitals. However, 30-day readmission rates were either similar (for AMI and CABG) or higher (for HF) at top-ranked compared with nonranked hospitals. This discrepancy between readmissions and other performance measures raises concern that readmissions may not be an adequate metric of hospital care quality.