{"title":"Hospital Involvement in Screening for and Addressing Patients' Health-Related Social Needs.","authors":"Simone R Singh, Rachel Hogg-Graham","doi":"10.1177/10775587241310922","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587241310922","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The number of hospitals screening patients for health-related social needs (HRSNs) has increased substantially in recent years, yet little is known about the extent to which hospitals invest in programs or strategies aimed at addressing identified needs. Using data from the 2022 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey for 2,468 non-federal general medical and surgical hospitals, this study explored screening rates and related interventions for eight HRSNs: housing, food insecurity, utilities, interpersonal violence, transportation, employment or income, education, and social isolation. Sample hospitals screened for an average of 6.1 HRSNs and had programs or strategies for an average of 5.4 HRSNs. Hospitals that screened their patients for HRSNs were significantly more likely to invest in interventions aimed at addressing these needs. Serving patients more holistically by addressing both medical and social needs has the potential to improve health outcomes and ultimately reduce health disparities.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"269-275"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143015591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brianna M Lombardi, Brooke Lombardi, Evan Galloway, Lisa de Saxe Zerden
{"title":"Understanding Available Data Sources to Estimate the Size and Distribution of Community Health Workers in the United States.","authors":"Brianna M Lombardi, Brooke Lombardi, Evan Galloway, Lisa de Saxe Zerden","doi":"10.1177/10775587241304145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775587241304145","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study used three national data sources to estimate the size and distribution of Community health workers (CHWS) in the United States. CHWs were identified in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES; 2022), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data (2021), and American Community Survey (ACS; 2020). The rate of CHWs per 100,000 people was calculated and compared across states. Then, the study assessed if the rate of CHWS per the population varied in states with or without CHW certification or reimbursement in a series of one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Nationally, the rate of CHWs per 100,000 people in NPPES is 7.44, 18.37 in the BLS, and 35.44 in the ACS. No significant differences in the mean number of CHWs per 100,0000 people in states with or without certification and/or reimbursement was found. Further exploration of available data sources is needed to provide new insights and potential solutions to employ, fund, and sustain the CHW workforce.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":"82 3","pages":"276-283"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12018715/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144043625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of Fentanyl Test Strips as Harm Reduction for Drug-Related Mortality.","authors":"Moiz Bhai, Benjamin J McMichael, David T Mitchell","doi":"10.1177/10775587251316919","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587251316919","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examines the impact of legalizing fentanyl test strips (FTSs) on drug-related mortality in the United States from 2018 to 2022. Using a difference-in-differences approach with state-level data, we find that FTS legalization is associated with a significant reduction in drug-overdose deaths. Across the population, FTS legalization corresponds to a 7% decrease in overdose mortality, with an even more pronounced 13.5% reduction among Black individuals. Our analysis employs two-way fixed effects models and triple differences specifications to isolate the effect of FTS legalization from other factors. The results suggest that FTS legalization is particularly effective in reducing unintentional drug-overdose deaths. These findings underscore the potential of FTS as a critical harm reduction tool in addressing the opioid crisis, especially in mitigating racial disparities in overdose mortality. The study provides evidence to support expanding access to FTS as part of comprehensive public health strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"240-251"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143400710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Percent of Medicare Enrollees Who Use Home-Based Health Care and Number of Visits Among Respondents to the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey by Plan Option.","authors":"Tami M Videon, Robert J Rosati","doi":"10.1177/10775587251318404","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587251318404","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Using beneficiary reports of health care utilization from the 2019 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Cost Supplement, we compare the prevalence of home-based care and number of visits among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older, by plan option, excluding dual-eligible beneficiaries. Traditional Medicare (TM) beneficiaries were significantly more likely to receive home-based medical visits (10.4% vs. 8.0%) with greater differences observed in vulnerable subgroups. While average number of visits were comparable for TM (35.6) and Medicare Advantage (MA) (34.9) beneficiaries, the distribution of the number of visits varied by plan option. Compared with TM beneficiaries, MA beneficiaries were 4.5 times more likely to receive a single home-based medical visit (17.5% vs. 3.9%) and roughly 1.5 times more likely to have the fewest (two to four visits; 12.2% vs. 8.0%) and greatest number of home visits (90+ visits; 11.1% vs. 7.7%). Access to, and number of, home-based medical care differs significantly by plan option.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"252-259"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143494833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mahdi Neshan, Vennila Padmanaban, Naleef Fareed, Samantha M Ruff, Elizabeth Palmer Kelly, Timothy M Pawlik
{"title":"Patient Decisional Preferences: A Systematic Review of Instruments Used to Determine Patients' Preferred Role in Decision-Making.","authors":"Mahdi Neshan, Vennila Padmanaban, Naleef Fareed, Samantha M Ruff, Elizabeth Palmer Kelly, Timothy M Pawlik","doi":"10.1177/10775587251316917","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587251316917","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Decision control preferences (DCPs) refer to the degree of control patients' desire over their medical treatment. Several validated tools exist to evaluate a patient's DCPs, yet there is no universally used instrument and their use in clinical settings is lacking. We provide a systematic comparative summary of available DCP tools. Following a systematic database search, English language studies across medical contexts and patient populations were eligible if a validated assessment tool to evaluate patient DCPs was reported. Among the 15 tools that met inclusion criteria, the autonomy preference index (API) and the control preference scale (CPS) were the most used tools (API: 40%, CPS: 26.6%). Most studies (<i>n</i> = 9) sought to identify the information-seeking preferences of patients as a critical component of decision-making. Only few studies evaluated providers' perceptions of patient preferences. Considering the variety of patients' DCPs, implementation of DCP tools can optimize shared decision-making and improve patient outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"225-239"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143374934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Seiyoun Kim, Mingyu Qi, R Tamara Konetzka, Rachel M Werner
{"title":"Home Health Care Use Among Medicare Beneficiaries From 2010 to 2020.","authors":"Seiyoun Kim, Mingyu Qi, R Tamara Konetzka, Rachel M Werner","doi":"10.1177/10775587251318407","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587251318407","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Medicare home health coverage is an important resource for Medicare beneficiaries requiring health care at home. However, there have been changes in the United States health care system that might impact home health utilization such as pressures to constrain Medicare spending, growth in Medicare Advantage (MA) plan enrollment, decline in institutional long-term care and growth of Medicaid home- and community-based services. Given these changes, we examined home health care use trends among beneficiaries enrolled in traditional Medicare (TM) and MA from 2010 to 2020. We separately examined home health episodes that were initiated after a hospital or skilled nursing facility discharge and those initiated within the community and among dually and non-dually eligible beneficiaries. Home health use decreased among TM enrollees for both community-initiated and post-discharge needs but increased among MA enrollees for community-initiated home health use. Increases in community-initiated home health use were concentrated in non-dually eligible beneficiaries.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"260-268"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12018719/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143460563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ashlee Korsberg, Sarah L Cornelius, Fares Awa, James O'Malley, Erika L Moen
{"title":"A Scoping Review of Multilevel Patient-Sharing Network Measures in Health Services Research.","authors":"Ashlee Korsberg, Sarah L Cornelius, Fares Awa, James O'Malley, Erika L Moen","doi":"10.1177/10775587241304140","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587241304140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social network analysis is the study of the structure of relationships between social entities. Access to health care administrative datasets has facilitated use of \"patient-sharing networks\" to infer relationships between health care providers based on the extent to which they have encounters with common patients. The structure and nature of patient-sharing relationships can reflect observed or latent aspects of health care delivery systems, such as collaboration and influence. We conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed studies that derived patient-sharing network measure(s) in the analyses. There were 134 papers included in the full-text review. We identified and created a centralized resource of 118 measures and uncovered three major themes captured by them: <i>Influential and Key Players, Care Coordination and Teamwork</i>, and <i>Network Structure and Access to Care</i>. Researchers may use this review to inform their use of patient-sharing network measures and to guide the development of novel measures.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":"82 3","pages":"203-224"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12338495/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144057975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Determinants of Low-Cost Provider Use: Evidence From Lab Tests.","authors":"Calvin A Ackley","doi":"10.1177/10775587251339935","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10775587251339935","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article studies the determinants and consequences of low-cost provider use for lab tests. Using all-payer claims data, I measure price variation across lab providers and link individual tests to referring providers, primary care providers, and clinician-hospital ownership information. I find that independent labs are 70% to 80% less expensive than hospital-based facilities, highlighting a path for considerable potential savings. Referring providers are overwhelmingly the strongest determinant of per-lab spending and hospital-based use, explaining 73% of the explained variance in site of care. Switching from a bottom-quintile independent-lab referrer to one in the top quintile is associated with a 39% drop in spending per test. Vertically integrated providers are less likely to be associated with independent lab use and are instead associated with higher spending per test. These findings suggest that clinician relationships, referral dynamics, and vertical integration are critical determinants of spending and site of care.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"10775587251339935"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144192496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The First Decade of ACO Model Evaluations in the Medicare Program: A Systematic Review.","authors":"David J Nyweide","doi":"10.1177/10775587251325914","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587251325914","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Health care providers participating in five accountable care organization (ACO) models designed, implemented, and evaluated by the Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have cared for almost six million fee-for-service Medicare patients over the past decade. This systematic review summarizes the features and performance of these ACO models, capturing five major themes arising from their evaluation reports: spending performance by ACO organization type; the role of management companies in ACO structure and performance; financial risk and ACO participation; clinician incentives, waivers, and payment mechanisms; and patient engagement with ACOs. In difference-in-differences analyses, these 214 ACOs lowered spending by an estimated $2.8 billion, or $316.9 million after accounting for shared savings payouts derived from benchmarks, with no evident decrements in quality of care. ACOs' challenge in ongoing and future ACO models is to apply their accrued experience to reduce spending and improve quality within a fee-for-service payment system.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"10775587251325914"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144055160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of Nursing Home Closures on Occupancy and Finances of Nearby Nursing Homes.","authors":"Lili Xu, Hari Sharma, George L Wehby","doi":"10.1177/10775587241296182","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775587241296182","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study estimates the effect of nursing home closure on occupancy, net profit margin, and operating margin of nearby nursing homes. We use national nursing home data from 2009 to 2019 from Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider of Services (POS), and LTCfocus.org data. Using the Callaway and Sant'Anna difference-in-differences model, we compare the changes in occupancy, net profit margin, and operating margin between incumbent nursing homes in markets with any closure and nursing homes in markets without a closure, overall, and across rurality. Our findings suggest that nursing home closure improves the occupancy rates of remaining nursing homes in the same market in rural areas but there is little evidence of effects in metropolitan and micropolitan areas. Nursing home regulators and local officials should consider the long-term care market heterogeneity when considering interventions targeted at nursing home closure.</p>","PeriodicalId":51127,"journal":{"name":"Medical Care Research and Review","volume":" ","pages":"153-164"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142669990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}