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Nagpal V, Osgood ML, Reidy J, Healy R, Silver B. Improving Access to Specialist Palliative Care for Patients With Catastrophic Strokes Using Best Practice Advisory- a Feasibility Study. Neurohospitalist 2023; 13:250-255. [PMID: 37441200 PMCID: PMC10334048 DOI: 10.1177/19418744231166265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and Purpose The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) strongly recommend specialty palliative care (PC) for all patients hospitalized with life-threatening or life-altering strokes to provide expert symptom management, improve communication, promote shared decision-making and relieve suffering. We piloted an intervention to remind physicians about high PC needs of their patients admitted with catastrophic stroke. Methods We worked with colleagues from medical informatics to create a "Best Practice Advisory" (BPA) to recommend a goals-of-care conversation and PC consultation for patients with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of 20 or more in our electronic medical record (Epic). We evaluated the impact of this BPA, after implementation, on the number and timing of PC consults and reviewed barriers to this system change. Results The BPA was operational in Jan 2019. Data analysis showed that it fired for all patients with an entered NIHSS score of ≥20. Though a large portion of the BPAs (more than 90%) were acknowledged without documented reason (after selecting "do not order"), PC consultations per 100 patients with triggered BPA increased from the first year of implementation (11.7 in 2019) to the next 2 years (20.7 in 2020, 15.6 in 2021). Also, the providers learned to manage BPA alerts better resulting in more than 30% reduction in the number of BPA alerts fired for each patient encounter in 2020-2021 compared to 2019.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vandana Nagpal
- UMass Memorial Health, Worcester, MA, USA
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Marcey L. Osgood
- UMass Memorial Health, Worcester, MA, USA
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer Reidy
- UMass Memorial Health, Worcester, MA, USA
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Rose Healy
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Brian Silver
- UMass Memorial Health, Worcester, MA, USA
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
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Piazza G, Hurwitz S, Campia U, Bikdeli B, Lou J, Khairani CD, Bejjani A, Snyder JE, Pfeferman M, Barns B, Rizzo S, Glezer A, Goldhaber SZ. Electronic alerts for ambulatory patients with atrial fibrillation not prescribed anticoagulation: A randomized, controlled trial (AF-ALERT2). Thromb Res 2023; 227:1-7. [PMID: 37182298 DOI: 10.1016/j.thromres.2023.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite widely available risk stratification tools, safe and effective anticoagulants, and guideline recommendations, anticoagulation for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) is under-prescribed in ambulatory patients. To assess the impact of alert-based computerized decision support (CDS) on anticoagulation prescription in ambulatory patients with AF and high-risk for stroke, we conducted this randomized controlled trial. METHODS Patients with AF and CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 2 who were not prescribed anticoagulation and had a clinic visit at Brigham and Women's Hospital were enrolled. Patients were randomly allocated, according to Attending Physician of record, to intervention (alert-based CDS) versus control (no notification). The primary efficacy outcome was the frequency of anticoagulant prescription. RESULTS The CDS tool assigned 395 and 403 patients to the alert and control groups, respectively. Alert patients were more likely to be prescribed anticoagulation within 48 h of the clinic visit (15.4 % vs. 7.7 %, p < 0.001) and at 90 days (17.2 % vs. 9.9 %, p < 0.01). Direct oral anticoagulants were the predominantly prescribed form of anticoagulation. No significant differences were observed in stroke, TIA, or systemic embolic events (0 % vs. 0.8 %, p = 0.09), symptomatic VTE (0.5 % vs. 1 %, p = 0.43), all-cause mortality (2 % vs. 0.7 %, p = 0.12), or major adverse cardiovascular events (2.8 % vs. 2.5 %, p = 0.79) at 90 days. CONCLUSIONS An alert-based CDS strategy increased a primary efficacy outcome of anticoagulation in clinic patients with AF and high-risk for stroke who were not receiving anticoagulation at the time of the office visit. The study was likely underpowered to assess an impact on clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier- NCT02958943.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Piazza
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Shelley Hurwitz
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Umberto Campia
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Behnood Bikdeli
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), New Haven, CT, USA; Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), New York, NY, USA
| | - Junyang Lou
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Candrika D Khairani
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Antoine Bejjani
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Julia E Snyder
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mariana Pfeferman
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Briana Barns
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Samantha Rizzo
- Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Alexandra Glezer
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Samuel Z Goldhaber
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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McDermott A, Kim N, Hausmann LRM, Magnani JW, Good CB, Litam TMA, Mor MK, Omole TD, Gellad WF, Fine MJ, Essien UR. Association of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Anticoagulation for Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in the Veterans Health Administration: the REACH-AF Study. J Gen Intern Med 2023; 38:848-856. [PMID: 36151447 PMCID: PMC10039185 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-022-07810-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia, the management of which includes anticoagulation for stroke prevention. Although disparities in anticoagulant prescribing have been well documented for individual socioeconomic factors, less is known about the association of neighborhood-level disadvantage and anticoagulation for AF. OBJECTIVE To assess the association between neighborhood disadvantage and anticoagulant initiation for patients with incident AF. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS A cohort of patients enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) with incident AF from January 2014 through December 2020 from the Race, Ethnicity, and Anticoagulant CHoice in Atrial Fibrillation (REACH-AF) Study. MAIN MEASURES The primary exposure was neighborhood disadvantage quantified using area deprivation index (ADI), classified by quintiles (Q). The outcomes were initiation of any anticoagulant therapy (warfarin or direct oral anticoagulant, DOAC) within 90 days of AF diagnosis and DOAC use among initiators. We used mixed effects logistic regression to assess the association between ADI and anticoagulant therapy, incorporating a fixed effect for treatment site and baseline patient, provider, and facility covariates. KEY RESULTS Among 161,089 patients, 105,489 (65.5%) initiated any anticoagulant therapy, and 78,903 (74.8%) used DOACs. Any anticoagulant therapy increased 3.2 percentage points (63.0% to 66.2%; p<.001) from Q1 to Q5, whereas DOAC use decreased 8.2 percentage points (79.4% to 71.2%; p<.0001) across quintiles. The adjusted odd ratios of any anticoagulant therapy were non-significantly different for Q2-Q5 than Q1. The adjusted odds of DOAC use decreased progressively from 0.89 (95% CI, 0.84-0.94) in Q2 to 0.77 (95% CI, 0.73-0.83) in Q5 compared to Q1 (p<.0001). CONCLUSIONS Among Veterans with incident AF, we observed similar initiation of any anticoagulant, though neighborhood deprivation was associated with decreased DOAC use among anticoagulant initiators. Future interventions to improve pharmacoequity in anticoagulant prescribing for AF should consider the role of neighborhood-level determinants of health inequities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie McDermott
- Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Nadejda Kim
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Leslie R M Hausmann
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jared W Magnani
- Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Chester B Good
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Centers for Value-Based Pharmacy Initiatives and High-Value Health Care, UPMC Health Plan, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Terrence M A Litam
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Maria K Mor
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Toluwa D Omole
- Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Walid F Gellad
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Michael J Fine
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Utibe R Essien
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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