June 2012 | AJMC

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June 2012

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CLINICAL

Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Medical Inpatients: Effect on Outcomes and Costs

Onur Baser, MS, PhD; Nishan Sengupta, PhD; Anne Dysinger, MA; and Li Wang, MA, PhD

VTE prophylaxis is underutilized in medical patients in US hospitals, but the occurrence of VTE has a major clinical and economic impact.

Racial Disparities in Lipid Control in Patients With Diabetes

Darcy Saffar, MPH; L. Keoki Williams, MD, MPH; Jennifer Elston Lafata, PhD; George Divine, PhD; and Manel Pladevall, MD, MS

African Americans with diabetes are less likely than whites to be treated with lipid-lowering agents, have their medication altered, or reach LDL-C goal.

METHODS

Automating Care Quality Measurement With Health Information Technology

Brian Hazlehurst, PhD; Mary Ann McBurnie, PhD; Richard A. Mularski, MD, MSHS, MCR; Jon E. Puro, MPA-HA; and Susan L. Chauvie, RN, MPA-HA

The authors discuss the design and evaluation of a health information technology platform that enables comprehensive, automated assessment of care quality in electronic medical records.

POLICY

Role of Insurance, Income, and Affordability in Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

Nadereh Pourat, PhD; and Jenna M. Jones, MPH

Compared with insured adults, uninsured adults in California had less knowledge of the human papillomavirus vaccine and were less likely to be vaccinated.

Web Exclusives

Bowling Alone, Healing Together: The Role of Social Capital in Delivery Reform

Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA; Riya Goyal, BA; Susannah Fox, BA; and William H. Shrank, MD, MS, HS

As delivery reform unfolds and leads to new models of care delivery, social capital will be a powerful concept to incorporate into their design and evaluation.

Quality Care Opportunities: Refining Physician Performance Measurement in Ambulatory Care

Kimberly M. Lovett, MD; and Bryan A. Liang, MD, PhD, JD

The quality care opportunities model can lead to increased utility and validity of current measurement tools and more accurate assessment of physician performance.

Unintended Consequences of a Quality Measure for Acute Bronchitis

Serena Roth, MD; Ralph Gonzales, MD, MSPH; Tammy Harding-Anderer, PhD; Frederick J. Bloom, Jr, MD, MMM; Thomas Graf, MD; Melissa S. Stahl, MPH; Judith H. Maselli, MSPH; and Joshua P. Metlay, MD, PhD

A quality measure reduced antibiotic use for patients with acute bronchitis but led to use of an alternative diagnosis, offsetting most of the observed improvement.

Impact of Positive Airway Pressure Among Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients

Qian Cai, MS, MSPH; Hiangkiat Tan, MS, BPharm; and Joseph Singer, MD

The hospitalization risks and costs of positive airway pressure were evaluated among patients with obstructive sleep apnea in a real-world setting.

Barriers to Transition of Obese Patients From Hospital to Community

Jane Miles, MSN, RN, NEA-BC; Darren P. Anderson, MSN, RN, ACM; Martha Engelke, PhD; Mary K. Kirkpatrick, RN, MSN, EdD; Mary Lisa Pories, MSW; Wanda G. Waters, RN, BSN; Frank R. Watkins, RN, CCRC; Marie E. Pokorny, RN, MSN, PhD; and Mary Ann Rose, MSN, EdD

This study explored barriers to the transition of obese patients from hospital to community as perceived by case managers, nursing home directors, and home health directors.