Dataset Information

Variability in prescription drug expenditures explained by adjusted clinical groups (ACG) case-mix: a cross-sectional study of patient electronic records in primary care.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: In view of rapidly increasing prescription costs, case-mix adjustment should be considered for effective control of costs. We have estimated the variability in pharmacy costs explained by ACG in centers using patient electronic records, profiled centers and physicians and analyzed the correlation between cost and quality of prescription. METHODS: We analyzed 65,630 patient records attending five primary care centers in Spain during 2005. Variables explored were age, gender, registered diagnosed episodes of care during 2005, total cost of prescriptions, physician and center. One ACG was assigned to each patient with ACG case-mix software version 7.1. In a two-part model, logistic regression was used to explain the incurrence of drug expenditure at the first stage and a linear mixed model that considered the multilevel structure of data modeled the cost, conditional upon incurring any expense. Risk and efficiency indexes in pharmacy cost adjusted for ACG were obtained for centers and physicians. Spearman rank correlation between physician expenditure, adjusted for ACG, and a prescription quality index was also obtained. Pediatric and adult data were analyzed separately. RESULTS: No prescription was recorded for 13% of adults and 39.6% of children. The proportion of variance of the incurrence of expenditure explained by ACGs was 0.29 in adults and 0.21 in children. For adults with prescriptions, the variance of cost explained by ACGs was 35.4%, by physician-center was 1.8% and age 10.5% (residual 52.3%). For children, ACGs explained 22.4% of cost and physician-center 10.9% (residual 66.7%). Center efficiency index for adults ranged 0.58 to 1.22 and for children 0.32 to 2.36. Spearman correlation between expenditure and prescription quality index was -0.36 in family physicians (p = 0.019, N = 41) and -0.52 in pediatricians (p = 0.08, N = 12). CONCLUSION: In our setting, ACG is the variable studied that explains more variability in pharmacy cost in adults compared to physician and center. In children there is greater variability among physicians and centers not related to case-mix. In our sites, ACG is useful to profile physicians and centers using electronic records in real practical conditions. Physicians with lower pharmaceutical expenditure have higher scores for a prescription quality index.

SUBMITTER: Aguado A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2292169 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Variability in prescription drug expenditures explained by adjusted clinical groups (ACG) case-mix: a cross-sectional study of patient electronic records in primary care.

Aguado Alba A Guinó Elisabet E Mukherjee Bhramar B Sicras Antoni A Serrat Josep J Acedo Mateo M Ferro Juan Jose JJ Moreno Victor V

BMC health services research 20080304

<h4>Background</h4>In view of rapidly increasing prescription costs, case-mix adjustment should be considered for effective control of costs. We have estimated the variability in pharmacy costs explained by ACG in centers using patient electronic records, profiled centers and physicians and analyzed the correlation between cost and quality of prescription.<h4>Methods</h4>We analyzed 65,630 patient records attending five primary care centers in Spain during 2005. Variables explored were age, gend ...[more]

PMID: 18318912

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Project description:OBJECTIVES:To identify modifiable factors leading to unplanned readmission and characterize differences in adjusted unplanned readmission rates across hospitals. DESIGN:Retrospective cohort study using prospectively collected clinical registry data SETTING:: Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium clinical registry. PATIENTS:Patients admitted to a pediatric cardiac ICU at Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium hospitals. INTERVENTIONS:None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:We examined pediatric cardiac ICU encounters in the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium registry from October 2013 to March 2016. The primary outcomes were early (< 48?hr from pediatric cardiac ICU transfer) and late (2-7 d) unplanned readmission. Generalized logit models identified independent predictors of unplanned readmission. We then calculated observed-to-expected ratios of unplanned readmission and identified higher-than or lower-than-expected unplanned readmission rates for those with an observed-to-expected ratios greater than or less than 1, respectively, and a 95% CI that did not cross 1. Of 11,301 pediatric cardiac ICU encounters (16 hospitals), 62% were surgical, and 18% were neonates. There were 175 (1.6%) early unplanned readmission, and 300 (2.7%) late unplanned readmission, most commonly for respiratory (31%), or cardiac (28%) indications. In multivariable analysis, unique modifiable factors were associated with unplanned readmission. Although shorter time between discontinuation of vasoactive infusions and pediatric cardiac ICU transfer was associated with early unplanned readmission, nighttime discharge was independently associated with a greater likelihood of late unplanned readmission. Two hospitals had lower-than-expected unplanned readmission in both the early and late categories, whereas two other hospitals were higher-than-expected in both. CONCLUSIONS:This analysis demonstrated time from discontinuation of critical care therapies to pediatric cardiac ICU transfer as a significant, modifiable predictor of unplanned readmission. We identified two hospitals with lower-than-expected adjusted rates of both early and late unplanned readmission, suggesting that their systems are well designed to prevent unplanned readmission. This offers the possibility of disseminating best practices to other hospitals through collaborative learning.

Dataset Information

Variability in prescription drug expenditures explained by adjusted clinical groups (ACG) case-mix: a cross-sectional study of patient electronic records in primary care.

Publications

Variability in prescription drug expenditures explained by adjusted clinical groups (ACG) case-mix: a cross-sectional study of patient electronic records in primary care.

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