Dataset Information

Substituting hospital-based outpatient cardiology care: The impact on quality, health and costs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many Western countries face the challenge of providing high-quality care while keeping the healthcare system accessible and affordable. In an attempt to deal with this challenge a new healthcare delivery model called primary care plus (PC+) was introduced in the Netherlands. Within the PC+ model, medical specialists perform consultations in a primary care setting. PC+ aims to support the general practitioners in gatekeeping and prevent unnecessary referrals to hospital care. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a cardiology PC+ intervention on the Triple Aim outcomes, which were operationalized by patient-perceived quality of care, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes, and healthcare costs per patient.

Methods

This is a quantitative study with a longitudinal observational design. The study population consisted of patients, with non-acute and low-complexity cardiology-related health complaints, who were referred to the PC+ centre (intervention group) or hospital-based outpatient care (control group; care-as-usual). Patient-perceived quality of care and HRQoL (EQ-5D-5L, EQ-VAS and SF-12) were measured through questionnaires at three different time points. Healthcare costs per patient were obtained from administrative healthcare data and patients were followed for nine months. Chi-square tests, independent t-tests and multilevel linear models were used to analyse the data.

Results

The patient-perceived quality of care was significantly higher within the intervention group for 26 out of 27 items. HRQoL outcomes did significantly increase in both groups (P <0.05) but there was no significant interaction between group and time. At baseline and also at three, six and nine months' follow-up the healthcare costs per patient were significantly lower for patients in the intervention group (P<0.001).

Conclusions

While this study showed no improvements on HRQoL outcomes, PC+ seemed to be promising as it results in improved quality of care as experienced by patients and lower healthcare costs per patient.

SUBMITTER: Quanjel TCC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6544378 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Substituting hospital-based outpatient cardiology care: The impact on quality, health and costs.

Quanjel Tessa C C TCC Spreeuwenberg Marieke D MD Struijs Jeroen N JN Baan Caroline A CA Ruwaard Dirk D

PloS one 20190531 5

<h4>Background</h4>Many Western countries face the challenge of providing high-quality care while keeping the healthcare system accessible and affordable. In an attempt to deal with this challenge a new healthcare delivery model called primary care plus (PC+) was introduced in the Netherlands. Within the PC+ model, medical specialists perform consultations in a primary care setting. PC+ aims to support the general practitioners in gatekeeping and prevent unnecessary referrals to hospital care. T ...[more]

PMID: 31150520

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Project description:Rationale, aims and objectiveSubstituting outpatient hospital care with primary care is seen as a solution to decrease unnecessary referrals to outpatient hospital care and decrease rising healthcare costs. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effects on quality of care, health and costs outcomes of substituting outpatient hospital care with primary care-based interventions, which are performed by medical specialists in face-to-face consultations in a primary care setting.MethodThe systematic review was performed using the PICO framework. Original papers in which the premise of the intervention was to substitute outpatient hospital care with primary care through the involvement of a medical specialist in a primary care setting were eligible.ResultsA total of 14 papers were included. A substitution intervention in general practitioner (GP) practices was described in 11 papers, three described a joint consultation intervention in which GPs see patients together with a medical specialist. This study showed that substitution initiatives result mostly in favourable outcomes compared to outpatient hospital care. The initiatives resulted mostly in shorter waiting lists, shorter clinic waiting times and higher patient satisfaction. Costs for treating one extra patient seemed to be higher in the intervention settings. This was mainly caused by inefficient planning of consultation hours and lower patient numbers.ConclusionsDespite the fact that internationally a lot has been written about the importance of performing substitution interventions in which preventing unnecessary referrals to outpatient hospital care was the aim, only 14 papers were included. Future systematic reviews should focus on the effects on the Triple Aim of substitution initiatives in which other healthcare professions than medical specialists are involved along with new technologies, such as e-consults. Additionally, to gain more insight into the effects of substitution initiatives operating in a dynamic healthcare context, it is important to keep evaluating the interventions in a longitudinal study design.

Project description:The pressure in out-of-hours primary care is high due to an increasing demand for care and rising health-care costs. During the daytime, substituting general practitioners (GPs) with nurse practitioners (NPs) shows positive results to contribute to these challenges. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the impact during out-of-hours. The current study aims to provide an insight into the impact of substitution on resource use, production and direct health-care costs during out-of-hours.At a general practitioner cooperative (GPC) in the south-east of the Netherlands, experimental teams with four GPs and one NP were compared with control teams with five GPs. In a secondary analysis, GP care versus NP care was also examined. During a 15-month period all patients visiting the GPC on weekend days were included. The primary outcome was resource use including X-rays, drug prescriptions and referrals to the Emergency Department (ED). We used logistic regression to adjust for potential confounders. Secondary outcomes were production per hour and direct health-care costs using a cost-minimization analysis.We analysed 6,040 patients in the experimental team (NPs: 987, GPs: 5,053) and 6,052 patients in the control team. There were no significant differences in outcomes between the teams. In the secondary analysis, in the experimental team NP care was associated with fewer drug prescriptions (NPs 37.1 %, GPs 43 %, p?<?.001) and fewer referrals to the ED (NPs 5.1 %, GPs 11.3 %, p?=?.001) than GP care. The mean production per hour was 3.0 consultations for GPs and 2.4 consultations for NPs (p?<?.001). The cost of a consultation with an NP was €3.34 less than a consultation with a GP (p?=?.02).These results indicated no overall differences between the teams. Nonetheless, a comparison of type of provider showed that NP care resulted in lower resource use and cost savings than GP care. To find the optimal balance between GPs and NPs in out-of-hours primary care, more research is needed on the impact of increasing the ratio of NPs in a team with GPs on resource use and health-care costs.ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01388374 .

Project description:Background: Identifying individuals at heightened cardiovascular risk is a priority for reducing the global burden of cardiovascular disease. Aspirin is widely used to prevent cardiovascular events, though with variable results. Therefore, we hypothesized that aspirin exposure would reveal novel biological pathways relevant to the development of cardiovascular events. Methods: We administered aspirin, followed by peripheral blood RNA microarray profiling, in a discovery cohort of healthy volunteers (n = 50, HV1), followed by two validation cohorts of healthy volunteers (n = 53, HV2) or outpatient cardiology (OPC, n = 25) patients, in conjunction with platelet function testing with the platelet functions score (PFS, HV1 and HV2) or the VerifyNow Asprin (VN, OPC) test. Sets of coexpressed genes, or “Factors” were identified via Bayesian sparse factor analysis and associated with platelet function in HV1 and validated in HV2 and OPC. Validated factors were associated with death/MI in observational (n = 191) and case:control (n = 447) patient cohorts with available RNA data collected at the time of cardiac catheterization. Results: Factor analysis yielded 20 Factors, of which one, Factor 14, contained 60 genes and was associated with PFS in HV1 (r = -0.31, p-value = 0.03). Factor 14 was associated with platelet function with the same strength and direction in HV2 (r = -0.34, p-value = 0.02) and OPC (one-sided p-value for aspirin resistant vs. aspirin sensitive = 0.046), thus validating the association. Factor 14 was associated with death/MI in the two patient cohorts, odds ratio (OR) = 1.2, 95% CI [1.02-1.4], p-value = 0.01 and hazard ratio = 1.5, [1.2-1.9], p = 0.001, respectively, independent of known cardiovascular risk factors (combined OR = 1.2, CI = [1.02, 1.4], p = 0.03). Factor 14 and the expression of the Factor 14 transcript most highly correlative of PFS, ITGA2B, improved reclassification compared to traditional risk factors (category-free net reclassification index = 31% and 37%, p ≤ 0.0002 for both). Conclusions: By challenging humans subjects with aspirin, a medication used for cardiovascular risk reduction, we elucidated genes and pathways that may underlie platelet function and mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular death/MI. This accession represents the OPC cohort microarray data

Dataset Information

Substituting hospital-based outpatient cardiology care: The impact on quality, health and costs.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Substituting hospital-based outpatient cardiology care: The impact on quality, health and costs.

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