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Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a medically supervised program designed to improve heart health after a cardiac event. Despite its demonstrated clinical benefits, CR participation among eligible patients remains poor due to low referral rates and individual barriers to care. To evaluate CR participation by patients who receive care from hospital-integrated physicians compared with independent physicians, and subsequently, to examine CR and recurrent cardiac hospitalizations. This retrospective cohort study evaluated Medicare Part A and Part B claims data from calendar years 2016 to 2019. All analyses were conducted between January 1 and April 30, 2024. Patients were included if they had a qualifying event for CR between 2017 and 2018, and qualifying events were identified using diagnosis codes on inpatient claims and procedure codes on outpatient and carrier claims. Eligible patients also had to continuously enroll in fee-for-service Medicare for 12 months or more before and after the index event. Physicians’ integration status and patients’ CR participation were determined during the 12-month follow-up period. The study covariates were ascertained during the 12 months before the index event. ExposureHospital-integration status of the treating physician during follow-up. Main Outcomes and MeasuresPostindex CR participation was determined by qualifying procedure codes on outpatient and carrier claims. ResultsThe study consisted of 28 596 Medicare patients eligible for CR. Their mean (SD) age was 74.0 (9.6) years; 16 839 (58.9%) were male. A total of 9037 patients (31.6%) were treated by a hospital-integrated physician, of which 2995 (33.1%) received CR during follow-up. Logistic regression via propensity score weighting showed that having a hospital-integrated physician was associated with an 11% increase in the odds of receiving CR (odds ratio [OR], 1.11; 95% CI, 1.05-1.18). Additionally, CR participation was associated with a 14% decrease in the odds of recurrent cardiovascular-related hospitalizations (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.81-0.91). The findings of this cohort study suggest that hospital integration has the potential to facilitate greater CR participation and improve heart care. Several factors may help explain this positive association, including enhanced care coordination and value-based payment policies. Further research is needed to assess the association of integration with other appropriate high-quality care activities.
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The association between the problem list and chronic pain management
Abstract BackgroundRoughly a quarter of the US population suffers from moderate to severe chronic pain for at least six months in any given year. The complexity of managing chronic pain has encouraged providers to use innovative methods to address it. Research has shown that problem lists are potential tools that support the care of patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease. ObjectivesTo examine the extent to which the inclusion of chronic pain in a problem list is associated with follow-up specialty pain care. MethodsThe association between chronic pain documentation on the problem list and specialty pain care was investigated in this retrospective cohort study using 4531 patient records. ResultsChronic pain documentation in the problem list was associated with higher odds of receiving specialty pain care. The most common diagnosis was chronic pain (69.7%). A migraine diagnosis was associated with decreased odds of receiving specialty care, and chronic pain syndrome was associated with increased odds of receiving specialty care compared with the other chronic pain groups. ConclusionDocumenting chronic pain on the problem list was associated with a higher likelihood of patients receiving specialty pain care.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1934568
- PAR ID:
- 10555952
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Discover Health Systems
- Volume:
- 2
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2731-7501
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s44250-022-00016-4
