Evidence map›Paper›PMID 8803739›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine1996

Variations in the management of acute myocardial infarction. Importance of clinical measures of disease severity.

W Du, A S Ash, D R Berlowitz, J S Schwartz, M A Moskowitz

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 1996. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

W DuHealth Care Research Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, Mass, USA.
A S Ash
D R Berlowitz
J S Schwartz
M A Moskowitz

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine the extent to which resource use for patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction varies with clinical status, and to see if an observed difference in resource use between two states can be explained by clinically detailed risk adjustment.

designRetrospective review of the clinical characteristics and resource use of 342 patients hospitalised in two states with acute myocardial infarction. DATA SOURCES: Merged data from three sources: a large, existing research database used in developing the Medicare Mortality Predictor Score, clinical data abstracted from medical charts specifically for this study, and Medicare Parts A and B claims records. PATIENTS: A probability sample of Medicare patients hospitalized in 1986 with a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction and residing in either Wisconsin or Washington state; patients dying within 30 days are oversampled. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN

resultsAlthough patients were clinically similar in the two states, there were systematic differences in resource use. Patients in Wisconsin spent more than one extra day in the intensive care unit (ICU) (2.8 vs 1.7) as well as more than one extra non-ICU day in the hospital (8.0 vs 6.5) than patients in Washington. Patients in Wisconsin were also more likely to receive an echocardiogram (35.6% vs 15.8%), nuclear ventriculogram (12.8% vs 4.1%), exercise tolerance test (21.5% vs 3.4), and Holter monitoring (5.4% vs 0%). (All p < .01.) Differences in utilization were greater for patients at lower risk of dying. The average cost of care was 20.8% higher in Wisconsin (p = .01); risk adjustment for clinical and other factors reduced this difference to 11.8%, but did not eliminate it (p = .04).

conclusionsPatients with acute myocardial infarction vary in resource use as a function of clinical factors present at admission and occurring during the hospital stay; comparisons that do not take account of these factors may not discriminate well between providers who care for sicker patients and those who are inefficient. The greater use of resources for patients in Wisconsin is at least partially explained by differences in clinical characteristics that are not presently captured in administrative data.

Indexed as

Practice Patterns, Physicians'AgedDatabases, FactualFemaleHealth ResourcesHospital CostsHumansInsurance Claim ReportingMaleMedicareMyocardial InfarctionOutcome Assessment, Health CareRetrospective StudiesSeverity of Illness IndexUnited StatesWashington

Identifiers

PMID8803739

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.