Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32013969›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2020

Emergency department and inpatient utilization among U.S. older adults with multiple chronic conditions: a post-reform update.

SangNam Ahn, Mustafa Hussein, Asos Mahmood, Matthew Lee Smith

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  7. Factors Associated With Health Care Delays Among Adults Over 50 During the COVID-19 Pandemic.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

SangNam AhnThe Division of Health Systems Management and Policy, School of Public Health, The University of Memphis, Memphis, 133 Robison Hall, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA. sahn@memphis.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5690-7627
Mustafa HusseinJoseph J. Zilber School of Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, 53205, USA.
Asos MahmoodThe Division of Health Systems Management and Policy, School of Public Health, The University of Memphis, Memphis, 133 Robison Hall, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA.
Matthew Lee SmithCenter for Population Health and Aging, Texas A&M University, College Station, 212 Adriance Lab Rd, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Texas A&M University · USUniversity of Georgia · USUniversity of Memphis · USUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison · US

Funding

Texas A&M University Healthy South Texas Project
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted to enhance access to care primarily among nonelderly and low-income populations; however, several provisions addressed key determinants of emergency department (ED) and inpatient visits among Medicare beneficiaries over age 65 years. We take stock of the overall changes in these visits among older Medicare beneficiaries, focusing on those with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs), and provide a nationally representative post-reform update.

methodsWe analyzed a sample of 32,919 older adults (65+) on Medicare from the 2006-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Using a survey-weighted two-part model, we examined changes in ED visits, inpatient visits, and length of stay (LOS) by MCC status, before (2006-2010), during (2011-2013), and after the ACA (2014-2015).

resultsPrior to the ACA, 18.1% of Medicare older adults had ≥1 ED visit, whereas 17.1% had ≥1 inpatient visits, with an average of 5.1 nights/visit. Following ACA reforms, among those with 2+ chronic conditions, the rate of ever having an ED visit increased by 4.3 percentage points [95% confidence intervals [CI]: 2.5, 6.1, p < 0.01], whereas the rate of inpatient visits decreased by 1.4 percentage points [95%CI: - 2.9, 0.2, p < 0.1], after multivariable adjustment.

conclusionsWe found sizable increases in ED visits and nontrivial decreases in inpatient visits among older Medicare beneficiaries with MCCs, underscoring the continuing need for improving access to and quality of care among older adults with MCCs to decrease reliance on the ED and reduce preventable hospitalizations.

Indexed as

MultimorbidityAgedChronic DiseaseEmergency Service, HospitalFacilities and Services UtilizationFemaleHealth Care ReformHospitalizationHumansMaleMedicarePatient Protection and Affordable Care ActUnited StatesAffordable care actEmergency department (ED) visitsInpatient visitsLength of stay (LOS)MedicareMultiple chronic conditionsOlder adults

Identifiers

PMID32013969
PMCPMC6998236
OpenAlexW3012804016

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.