Dual Use and Hospital Admissions among Veterans Enrolled in the VA's Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team

Primary Care for Veterans Experiencing Homelessness: a Narrative Review of the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (HPACT) Model

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Veterans Health (VA) implemented a homeless-tailored primary care medical home model called the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams (HPACTs). The impact of HPACTs on health and healthcare outcomes of veterans experiencing homelessness has not been adequately synthesized. This narrative review summarized peer-reviewed studies published in databases Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, and APA PsycInfo from 1946 to February 2022. Only original research studies that reported outcomes of the HPACT model were included in the review. Of 575 studies that were initially identified and screened, 26 studies met inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Included studies were categorized into studies that described the following: (1) early HPACT pilot implementation; (2) HPACT's association with service quality and utilization; and (3) specialized HPACT programs. Together, studies in this review suggest HPACT is associated with reductions in emergency department utilization and improvements in primary care utilization, engagement, and positive patient experiences; however, the methodological rigor of the included studies was low, and thus, these findings should only be considered preliminary. There is a need for randomized controlled trials assessing the impact of the PACT model on key outcomes of interest, as well as to determine whether the model is a viable way to manage healthcare for persons experiencing homelessness outside of the VA system.

Perceptions of Care Coordination Among Homeless Veterans Receiving Medical Care in the Veterans Health Administration and Community Care Settings: Results From a National Survey

BACKGROUND

Initiatives to expand Veterans' access to purchased health care outside Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities ("community care") present care coordination challenges for Veterans experiencing homelessness.

OBJECTIVE

Among Veterans with homeless experiences, to evaluate community care use and satisfaction, and compare perceptions of care coordination among Veterans using VHA services and community care to those using VHA services without community care.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of responses to a 2018 mailed survey.

SUBJECTS

VHA outpatients with homeless experiences.

MEASURES

Self-reported use of community care, Likert-style ratings of satisfaction with that care, and Access/Coordination experiences from the Primary Care Quality-Homeless (PCQ-H) survey.

RESULTS

Of 4777 respondents, 1325 (26.7%) reported using community care; most of this subsample affirmed satisfaction with the community care they received (83%) and its timeliness (75%). After covariate adjustment, Veteran characteristics associated with greater community care use included female sex, being of retirement age and nonmarried, and having higher education, more financial hardship, ≥3 chronic conditions, psychological distress, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Satisfaction with community care was lower among patients with travel barriers, psychological distress, and less social support. Compared with those using the VHA without community care, Veterans using VHA services and community care were more likely to report unfavorable access/coordination experiences [odds ratio (OR)=1.34, confidence interval (CI)=1.15-1.57]. This included hassles following referral (OR=1.37, CI=1.14-1.65) and perceived delays in receiving health care (OR=1.38, CI=1.19-1.61).

CONCLUSIONS

Veterans with homeless experiences value community care options. Potential access benefits are balanced with risks of unfavorable coordination experiences for vulnerable Veterans with limited resources.

Evaluation of Changes in Veterans Affairs Medical Centers' Mortality Rates After Risk Adjustment for Socioeconomic Status

IMPORTANCE

Socioeconomic factors are associated with worse outcomes after hospitalization, but neither the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) nor the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system adjust for socioeconomic factors in profiling hospital mortality.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate changes in Veterans Affairs medical centers' (VAMCs') risk-standardized mortality rates among veterans hospitalized for heart failure and pneumonia after adjusting for socioeconomic factors.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

In this cross-sectional study, retrospective data were used to assess 131 VAMCs' risk-standardized 30-day mortality rates with or without adjustment for socioeconomic covariates. The study population included 42 892 veterans hospitalized with heart failure and 39 062 veterans hospitalized with pneumonia from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014. Data were analyzed from March 1, 2019, to April 1, 2020.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary outcome was 30-day mortality after admission. Socioeconomic covariates included neighborhood disadvantage, race/ethnicity, homelessness, rurality, nursing home residence, reason for Medicare eligibility, Medicaid and Medicare dual eligibility, and VA priority.

RESULTS

The study population included 42 892 veterans hospitalized with heart failure (98.2% male; mean [SD] age, 71.9 [11.4] years) and 39 062 veterans hospitalized with pneumonia (96.8% male; mean [SD] age, 71.0 [12.4] years). The addition of socioeconomic factors to the CMS models modestly increased the C statistic from 0.77 (95% CI, 0.77-0.78) to 0.78 (95% CI, 0.78-0.78) for 30-day mortality after heart failure and from 0.73 (95% CI, 0.72-0.73) to 0.74 (95% CI, 0.73-0.74) for 30-day mortality after pneumonia. Mortality rates were highly correlated (Spearman correlations of ≥0.98) in models that included or did not include socioeconomic factors. With the use of the CMS model for heart failure, VAMCs in the lowest quintile had a mean (SD) mortality rate of 6.0% (0.4%), those in the middle 3 quintiles had a mean (SD) mortality rate of 7.2% (0.4%), and those in the highest quintile had a mean (SD) mortality rate of 8.8% (0.6%). After the inclusion of socioeconomic covariates, the adjusted mean (SD) mortality was 6.1% (0.4%) for hospitals in the lowest quintile, 7.2% (0.4%) for those in the middle 3 quintiles, and 8.6% (0.5%) for those in the highest quintile. The mean absolute change in rank after socioeconomic adjustment was 3.0 ranking positions (interquartile range, 1.0-4.0) among hospitals in the highest quintile of mortality after heart failure and 4.4 ranking positions (interquartile range, 1.0-6.0) among VAMCs in the lowest quintile. Similar findings were observed for mortality rankings in pneumonia and after inclusion of clinical covariates.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This study suggests that adjustments for socioeconomic factors did not meaningfully change VAMCs' risk-adjusted 30-day mortality rates for veterans hospitalized for heart failure and pneumonia. The implications of such adjustments should be examined for other quality measures and health systems.

HSR Commentary: Linking VA and Non-VA Data to Address Important US Veteran Health Services Research Issues

OBJECTIVE

This commentary summarizes the methods and topics addressed in the special issue of HSR focused on linkage of United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA datasets. The issue illustrates that researchers are increasingly linking diverse datasets as a valuable method for obtaining outcomes, treatments, and covariates to evaluate and examine health care delivery that includes non-VA services. The issue serves as a reference to VA and non-VA investigators alike who employ data linkage methods to address high-impact clinical and health policy evaluations that span different care systems and different datasets.