The Correlation Between Case Total Work Relative Value Unit, Operative Stress, and Patient Frailty: Retrospective Cohort Study

Social Determinants of Health and Surgical Desirability of Outcome Ranking in Older Veterans

Importance

Evaluating how social determinants of health (SDOH) influence veteran outcomes is crucial, particularly for quality improvement.

Objective

To measure associations between SDOH, care fragmentation, and surgical outcomes using a Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR).

Design, Setting, And Participants

This was a cohort study of US veterans using data from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP; 2013-2019) limited to patients aged 65 years or older with inpatient stays between 2 and 30 days, merged with multiple data sources, including Medicare. Race and ethnicity data were retrieved from VASQIP, Medicare and Medicaid beneficiary summary files, the Veterans Health Administration Corporate Data Warehouse, and the United States Veterans Eligibility Trends and Statistics file. Data were analyzed between September 2023 and February 2024.

Exposure

Living in a highly deprived neighborhood (Area Deprivation Index >85), race and ethnicity used as a social construct, rurality, and care fragmentation (percentage of non-VA care days).

Main Outcomes and Measures

DOOR is a composite, patient-centered ranking of 26 outcomes ranging from no complication (1, best) to 90-day mortality or near-death complications (6, worst). A series of proportional odds regressions was used to assess the impact of SDOH and care fragmentation adjusted for clinical risk factors, including presentation acuity (presenting with preoperative acute serious conditions and urgent or emergent surgical procedures).

Results

The cohort had 93 644 patients (mean [SD] age, 72.3 [6.2] years; 91 443 [97.6%] male; 74 624 [79.7%] White). Veterans who identified as Black (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.10; P = .048) vs White and veterans with higher care fragmentation (per 20% increase in VA care days relative to all care days: aOR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.01-1.02; P < .001) were associated with worse (higher) DOOR scores until adjusting for presentation acuity. Living in rural geographic areas was associated with better DOOR scores than living in urban areas (aOR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.91-0.96; P < .001), and rurality was associated with lower presentation acuity (preoperative acute serious conditions: aOR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81-0.95; P = .001). Presentation acuity was higher in veterans identifying as Black, living in deprived neighborhoods, and with increased care fragmentation.

Conclusions and Relevance

Veterans identifying as Black and veterans with greater proportions of non-VA care had worse surgical outcomes. VA programs should direct resources to reduce presentation acuity among Black veterans, incentivize veterans to receive care within the VA where possible, and better coordinate veterans' treatment and records between care sources.

A Surgical Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR) Reveals Complex Relationships Between Race/Ethnicity, Insurance Type, and Neighborhood Deprivation

OBJECTIVE

Develop an ordinal Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR) for surgical outcomes to examine complex associations of Social Determinants of Health.

BACKGROUND

Studies focused on single or binary composite outcomes may not detect health disparities.

METHODS

Three health care system cohort study using NSQIP (2013-2019) linked with EHR and risk-adjusted for frailty, preoperative acute serious conditions (PASC), case status and operative stress assessing associations of multilevel Social Determinants of Health of race/ethnicity, insurance type (Private 13,957; Medicare 15,198; Medicaid 2835; Uninsured 2963) and Area Deprivation Index (ADI) on DOOR and the binary Textbook Outcomes (TO).

RESULTS

Patients living in highly deprived neighborhoods (ADI>85) had higher odds of PASC [adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=1.13, CI=1.02-1.25, P <0.001] and urgent/emergent cases (aOR=1.23, CI=1.16-1.31, P <0.001). Increased odds of higher/less desirable DOOR scores were associated with patients identifying as Black versus White and on Medicare, Medicaid or Uninsured versus Private insurance. Patients with ADI>85 had lower odds of TO (aOR=0.91, CI=0.85-0.97, P =0.006) until adjusting for insurance. In contrast, patients with ADI>85 had increased odds of higher DOOR (aOR=1.07, CI=1.01-1.14, P <0.021) after adjusting for insurance but similar odds after adjusting for PASC and urgent/emergent cases.

CONCLUSIONS

DOOR revealed complex interactions between race/ethnicity, insurance type and neighborhood deprivation. ADI>85 was associated with higher odds of worse DOOR outcomes while TO failed to capture the effect of ADI. Our results suggest that presentation acuity is a critical determinant of worse outcomes in patients in highly deprived neighborhoods and without insurance. Including risk adjustment for living in deprived neighborhoods and urgent/emergent surgeries could improve the accuracy of quality metrics.

Differentiating Urgent from Elective Cases Matters in Minority Populations: Developing an Ordinal "Desirability of Outcome Ranking" to Increase Granularity and Sensitivity of Surgical Outcomes Assessment

BACKGROUND

Surgical analyses often focus on single or binary outcomes; we developed an ordinal Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR) for surgery to increase granularity and sensitivity of surgical outcome assessments. Many studies also combine elective and urgent procedures for risk adjustment. We used DOOR to examine complex associations of race/ethnicity and presentation acuity.

STUDY DESIGN

NSQIP (2013 to 2019) cohort study assessing DOOR outcomes across race/ethnicity groups risk-adjusted for frailty, operative stress, preoperative acute serious conditions, and elective, urgent, and emergent cases.

RESULTS

The cohort included 1,597,199 elective, 340,350 urgent, and 185,073 emergent cases with patient mean age of 60.0 ± 15.8, and 56.4% of the surgeries were performed on female patients. Minority race/ethnicity groups had increased odds of presenting with preoperative acute serious conditions (adjusted odds ratio [aORs] range 1.22 to 1.74), urgent (aOR range 1.04 to 2.21), and emergent (aOR range 1.15 to 2.18) surgeries vs the White group. Black (aOR range 1.23 to 1.34) and Native (aOR range 1.07 to 1.17) groups had increased odds of higher/worse DOOR outcomes; however, the Hispanic group had increased odds of higher/worse DOOR (aOR 1.11, CI 1.10 to 1.13), but decreased odds (aORs range 0.94 to 0.96) after adjusting for case status; the Asian group had better outcomes vs the White group. DOOR outcomes improved in minority groups when using elective vs elective/urgent cases as the reference group.

CONCLUSIONS

NSQIP surgical DOOR is a new method to assess outcomes and reveals a complex interplay between race/ethnicity and presentation acuity. Combining elective and urgent cases in risk adjustment may penalize hospitals serving a higher proportion of minority populations. DOOR can be used to improve detection of health disparities and serves as a roadmap for the development of other ordinal surgical outcomes measures. Improving surgical outcomes should focus on decreasing preoperative acute serious conditions and urgent and emergent surgeries, possibly by improving access to care, especially for minority populations.

Association of Cumulative Colorectal Surgery Hospital Costs, Readmissions, and Emergency Department/Observation Stays with Insurance Type

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

Medicare's Hospital Readmission Reduction Program disproportionately penalizes safety-net hospitals (SNH) caring for vulnerable populations. This study assessed the association of insurance type with 30-day emergency department visits/observation stays (EDOS), readmissions, and cumulative costs in colorectal surgery patients.

METHODS

Retrospective inpatient cohort study using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (2013-2019) with cost data in a SNH. The odds of EDOS and readmissions and cumulative variable (index hospitalization and all 30-day EDOS and readmissions) costs were modeled adjusting for frailty, case status, presence of a stoma, and open versus laparoscopic surgery.

RESULTS

The cohort had 245 private, 195 Medicare, and 590 Medicaid/uninsured cases, with a mean age 55.0 years (SD = 13.3) and 52.9% of the cases were performed on male patients. Most cases were open surgeries (58.7%). Complication rates were 41.8%, EDOS 12.0%, and readmissions 20.1%. Medicaid/uninsured had increased odds of urgent/emergent surgeries (aOR = 2.15, CI = 1.56-2.98, p < 0.001) and complications (aOR = 1.43, CI = 1.02-2.03, p = 0.042) versus private patients. Medicaid/uninsured versus private patients had higher EDOS (16.6% versus 4.1%) and readmissions (22.9% versus 14.3%) rates and higher odds of EDOS (aOR = 4.81, CI = 2.57-10.06, p < 0.001), and readmissions (aOR = 1.62, CI = 1.07-2.50, p = 0.025), while Medicare patients had similar odds versus private. Cumulative variable cost %change was increased for Medicare and Medicaid/uninsured, but Medicaid/uninsured was similar to private after adjusting for urgent/emergent cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Increased urgent/emergent cases in Medicaid/uninsured populations drive increased complications odds and higher costs compared to private patients, suggesting lack of access to outpatient care. SNH care for higher cost populations, receive lower reimbursements, and are penalized by value-based programs. Increasing healthcare access for Medicaid/uninsured patients could reduce urgent/emergent surgeries, resulting in fewer complications, EDOS/readmissions, and costs.