Evolution of Programs to Improve Transfers between Hospitals and Nursing Homes at the Community Level

This study described the evolution of programs to improve the efficiency of patient movement between hospitals and nursing homes in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York. These programs were needed in order to improve coordination among providers in the absence of networks that included both acute and long term care providers. The mechanisms included the exchange of data and monitoring the movement of Difficult to Place patients from hospitals to nursing homes. Between 2006 and 2014, the annual number of Difficult to Place patients increased from 983 to 1836. During this period, annual hospital medical/surgical discharges increased by 7.5 percent, severity of illness increased by 13.7 percent, and the population aged 65 years and over increased by 9.8 percent. Most of the Difficult to Place patients were admitted by the four largest facilities in the community, which accounted for 60 percent of the nursing home beds. The initiatives also included Subacute and Complex Care Programs that provided financial incentives for admission of certain types of patients, such as intravenous therapy and extensive wound care. The programs described how these programs were implemented using minimal financial resources and without adding positions to the participating provider organizations.

Joint arthroplasty Perioperative Surgical Home:Impact of patient characteristics on postoperative outcomes

AIM:To determine the impact of different characteristics on postoperative outcomes for patients in a joint arthroplasty Perioperative Surgical Home(PSH) program.METHODS:A retrospective review was performed for patients enrolled in a joint arthroplasty PSH program who had undergone primary total hip arthroplasty(THA) and total knee arthroplasty(TKA).Patients were preoperatively stratified based on specific procedure performed,age,gender,body mass index(BMI),American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Classification System(ASA) score,and Charleston Comorbidity Index(CCI) score.The primary outcome criterion was hospital length of stay(LOS).Secondary criteria including operative room(OR) duration,trans-fusion rate,Post-Anesthesia Care Unit(PACU) stay,readmission rate,post-operative complications,and discharge disposition.For each outcome,the predictor variables were entered into a generalized linear model with appropriate response and assessed for predictive relationship to the dependent variable.Significance level was set to 0.05.RESULTS:A total of 337 patients,200 in the TKA cohort and 137 in the THA cohort,were eligible for the study.Nearly two-third of patients were female.Patient age averaged 64 years and preoperative BMI averaged 29 kg/m2.The majority of patients were ASA score Ⅲ and CCI score 0.After analysis,ASA score was the only variable predictive for LOS(P = 0.0011) and each increase in ASA score above 2 increased LOS by approximately 0.5 d.ASA score was also the only variable predictive for readmission rate(P = 0.0332).BMI was the only variable predictive for PACU duration(P = 0.0136).Specific procedure performed,age,gender,and CCI score were not predictive for any of the outcome criteria.OR duration,transfusion rate,postoperative complications or discharge disposition were not significantly associated with any of the predictor variables.CONCLUSION:The joint arthroplasty PSH model reduces postoperative outcome variability for patients with different preoperative characteristics and medical comorbidities.

Improving Hospital Stays with Community Wide Programs

This study described a series of programs implemented in Syracuse, New York to support the movement of long term acute care patients to skilled nursing facilities. The Difficult to Place Program involved the identification of these patients and the communication of information concerning them between hospitals and nursing homes on a continuing basis. These patients involved approximately 20 percent of new admissions to nursing homes. The Subacute Programs included services such as intravenous therapy and offsite transportation that were not originally available in area nursing homes. The Subacute Program stimulated the development of these services in long term care. The Complex Care Programs have included services for patients with high severity of illness such as multiple intravenous antibiotic therapy and high cost medications. The Subacute and Complex Care Programs included 5 - 6 percent of Difficult to Place patients. The study demonstrated that these programs reduced the number of annual adult medicine and adult surgery patient days by 2288 between 2011 and 2017.

Hospital Length of Stay Reduction: A Long-Term Study

This study evaluated length of stay reduction for adult medicine and adult surgery in the combined hospitals of Syracuse, New York between 1998 and 2016. The study was based on the All Patients Refined Severity of Illness System. Through this approach, it controlled for changes in the degree of illness of hospital populations. The study data indicated that reductions in adult medicine and adult surgery stays in the Syracuse hospitals between 1998 and 2012 reduced the annual number of excess days compared with severity adjusted national averages by 49,000, or an average daily census of 134.2. It appeared that the shift to reimbursement by discharges initiated by Medicare was a major cause of these reductions. The impact of this change was accompanied by length of stay reduction initiatives by the Syracuse hospitals, especially relating to long-term care. Between January-April 2012 and 2016, additional reductions brought the lengths of stay for adult medicine and adult surgery in the combined Syracuse hospitals close to the national average. The study suggested that remaining opportunities for length of stay reductions in Syracuse involved patients with high severity of illness and those discharged to nursing homes.

难忘的香港home stay

香港回归十周年的特殊日子里,《当代学生》、《上海中学生报》学生记者团一行80余人来到香港开展了一次别有意义的参观采访活动。活动的内容丰富而精彩,迪斯尼乐园、海洋公园、太平山顶、金紫荆广场、维多利亚港等美不胜收的景色让我们流连忘返,而别有意义的采访活动和独特的homestay(家庭寄宿)生活更是让我们久久难忘,现在就让我们通过学生记者发回的文字来一起回味一下那段难忘的学记团生活吧!

Rasch validation of the Chinese parent-child interaction scale (CPCIS)

Background Proper parent-child interaction is crucial for child development, but an assessment tool in Chinese is currently lacking. This study aimed to develop and validate a parent-reported parent-child interaction scale for Chinese preschool children. Methods The Chinese parent-child interaction scale (CPCIS) was designed by an expert panel based on the literature and clinical observations in the Chinese context. The initial CPCIS had 14 parent-child interactive activity items. Psychometric properties of the CPCIS were examined using the Rasch model and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Convergent validity was investigated by the associations between CPCIS and family income, maternal education level, and children's school readiness. Results The study recruited 567 Chinese parent-child pairs from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, who completed the CPCIS. Six out of the 14 items in the initial CPCIS were dropped due to suboptimal fi t values. The refined 8-item CPCIS was shown to be valid and reliable by Rasch models and CFA. The person separation reliability and Cronbach's α of the CPCIS were 0.81 and 0.82, respectively. The CPCIS scores were positively associated with family's socioeconomic status (η2 = 0.05,P < 0.001), maternal education level (η2 = 0.08,P < 0.001), and children's school readiness (η2 = 0.01,P < 0.01). Conclusion CPCIS is an easily administered, valid, and reliable tool for the assessment of parent-child interactions in Chinese families.

Variations in length of stay among survived very preterm infants admitted to Chinese neonatal intensive care units

Background This study aimed to describe length of stay(LOS)to discharge and site variations among very preterm infants(VPIs)admitted to 57 Chinese neonatal intensive care units(NICUs)and to investigate factors associated with LOS for VPIs.Methods This retrospective multicenter cohort study enrolled all infants<32 weeks’gestation and admitted to 57 NICUs which had participated in the Chinese Neonatal Network,within 7 days after birth in 2019.Exclusion criteria included major congenital anomalies,NICU deaths,discharge against medical advice,transfer to non-participating hospitals,and missing discharge date.Two multivariable linear models were used to estimate the association of infant characteristics and LOS.Results A total of 6580 infants were included in our study.The overall median LOS was 46 days[interquartile range(IQR):35-60],and the median corrected gestational age at discharge was 36 weeks(IQR:35-38).LOS and corrected gestational age at discharge increased with decreasing gestational age.The median corrected gestational age at discharge for infants at 24 weeks,25 weeks,26 weeks,27-28 weeks,and 29-31 weeks were 41 weeks,39 weeks,38 weeks,37 weeks and 36 weeks,respectively.Significant site variation of LOS was identified with observed median LOS from 33 to 71 days in different hospitals.Conclusions The study provided concurrent estimates of LOS for VPIs which survived in Chinese NICUs that could be used as references for medical staff and parents.Large variation of LOS independent of infant characteristics existed,indicating variation of care practices requiring further investigation and quality improvement.