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The Impact of Patient Complexity on Healthcare Utilization

The Impact of Patient Complexity on Healthcare Utilization

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03327896
Enrollment
200000
Registered
2017-11-01
Start date
2017-01-15
Completion date
2018-08-31
Last updated
2017-11-01

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Alcohol and Drug Screening, Colorectal Cancer Screening NQF 0034, Diabetes Mellitus NQF 0059, Emergency Department Utilization, Primary Care Quality Metrics, Well Child Visits in First 15 Months of Life NQF 1392

Keywords

Quality Measures, Social Determinants of Health

Brief summary

Healthcare providers are routinely being assessed for metrics designed to assess the quality of the care they deliver. There is growing consensus that these measurements, which typically assess the percentage of patients meeting a specific standard of care, should be adjusted for the clinical complexity of the providers. This study will assess whether adjusting for the social complexity of the patient panel adds significantly to adjustment for clinical complexity in explaining apparent differences in quality of care provided by Primary care providers and clinics.

Detailed description

The analysis will be conducted in 2 stages. In the first stage, indicators of social complexity (as assessed by characteristics of the patients' geocoded addresses) will be tested for significant association with patient level outcomes (meeting or not meeting a specific standard of care). These indicators will be assessed in 4 cohorts: 2 cohorts of patients identified in electronic health records of Clinical Research Networks of community health centers, and 2 cohorts of patients insured by Medicaid in 2015 (Oregon and Florida Medicaid cohorts). Due to limitations in the available data, some quality indicators can only be evaluated in a subset of the cohorts. The consistency of specific social complexity indicators, referred to as Community Vital Signs (CVS), will be evaluated across the cohorts and quality metrics. In the second stage, CVS indicators that contributed consistently to models at the patient level will be evaluated for their effect on provider ranking on quality metrics if the metrics are adjusted for the social complexity of the providers' patient panel in addition to the panels' clinical complexity.

Interventions

OTHERCharlson score and Community Social Deprivation

This is an observational study of the association of clinical comorbidity and neighborhood social deprivation characteristics with healthcare performance assessment.

Sponsors

University of Florida
CollaboratorOTHER
OCHIN, Inc.
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
CASE_ONLY
Time perspective
RETROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

for clinics: Clinics must be a clinic that offers Primary Care (Family Medicine Clinics, Pediatrics Clinics, General Practice Clinics, Internal Medicine clinics that are not limited to a subspecialty focus, and multi-specialty clinics that include primary care providers as part of a comprehensive care team.) Clinics must have implemented their EHR by 1/1/2014. Inclusion criteria for patients: EHR Patients must be established patients within a health care system: at least one ambulatory visit to an included clinic in 2015 and at least 1 visit to a primary care clinic within the same health system prior to that visit. Inclusion criteria for patients for Medicaid based Outcomes: Patient must have been continuously covered by Medicaid in 2015 and have had at least 1 visit billed as an office visit in 2015 with a provider identified as a primary care provider and at least 1 prior claim billed to the same provider. Patients must meet the age/condition criteria for the assessment of at least 1 secondary outcome.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Provider Ranking as Assessed by Health Care Quality Metrics1 year (2015)Comparison of adjusted provider quality rankings with metrics adjusted for Charlson Morbidity Scores and Patient Panel Neighborhood Deprivation Indicators

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Screening for alcohol and drug misuse (patient level)1 year (2015)Documented screening for alcohol or drug misuse in patients aged 12 and over
Emergency Department Visits (Patient level)1 year (2015)Age stratified Emergency department visit rates in patients in Medicaid cohorts
Well Child Visits in first 15 Months of life (patient level)15 monthsNumber of well child visits in first 15 months of life in children turning 15 months in 2015
Uncontrolled Hemoglobin A1c in Diabetics (patient level)1 yearLast recorded HbA1c greater than 9 in patients with recorded diagnosis of Diabetes (EHR cohorts only)
Colorectal Cancer Screening (Patient level)1 yearDocumented colorectal cancer screening in 2015 (Oregon Medicaid cohort only)
Avoidable Emergency Department Visits (Patient level)1 year (2015)Age stratified Avoidable Emergency department visit rates in patients in Medicaid cohorts

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026