Bradley Gordon Hammill

Journal Article JACC Adv · November 2024 BACKGROUND: Despite clear associations between arrhythmia burden and cardiovascular risk, clinical risk scores that predict cardiovascular events do not incorporate individual-level arrhythmia characteristics from long-term continuous monitoring (LTCM). OB ... Full text Link to item Cite

Analyzing missingness patterns in real-world data using the SMDI toolkit: application to a linked EHR-claims pharmacoepidemiology study.

Journal Article BMC Med Res Methodol · October 19, 2024 BACKGROUND: Missing data in confounding variables present a frequent challenge in generating evidence using real-world data, including electronic health records (EHR). Our objective was to apply a recently published toolkit for characterizing missing data ... Full text Link to item Cite

Shared Decision-Making Communication and Prognostic Misunderstanding in the ICU.

Journal Article JAMA Netw Open · October 1, 2024 IMPORTANCE: Surrogate misunderstanding of patient survival prognosis in the intensive care unit (ICU) is associated with poor patient and surrogate outcomes. Shared decision-making (SDM) may reduce misunderstanding. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Contribution of Clinical Trial Event Data by Data Source: A Prespecified Analysis of the ADAPTABLE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Journal Article JAMA Cardiol · September 1, 2024 IMPORTANCE: Pragmatic randomized clinical trials (RCTs) often use multiple data sources to examine clinical events, but the relative contribution of data sources to clinical end-point rates is understudied. OBJECTIVE: To assess the contribution of data sou ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and 30-Day Outcomes for Common Cardiovascular Conditions.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · August 20, 2024 BACKGROUND: Understanding the relationship between neighborhood environment and cardiovascular outcomes is important to achieve health equity and implement effective quality strategies. We conducted a population-based cohort study to determine the associat ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Effect of Social Drivers of Health on 90-Day Readmission Rates and Costs After Primary Total Hip and Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Journal Article J Am Acad Orthop Surg · July 18, 2024 INTRODUCTION: The effect of social drivers of health (SDOH) on readmissions and costs after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is poorly understood. Policies such as the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program have targeted over ... Full text Link to item Cite

smdi: an R package to perform structural missing data investigations on partially observed confounders in real-world evidence studies.

Journal Article JAMIA Open · April 2024 OBJECTIVES: Partially observed confounder data pose a major challenge in statistical analyses aimed to inform causal inference using electronic health records (EHRs). While analytic approaches such as imputation are available, assumptions on underlying mis ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incorporating Acute Conditions into Risk-Adjustment for Provider Profiling: The Case of the US News and World Report Best Hospitals Rankings Methodology.

Journal Article Am J Med Qual · March 2024 Several years ago, the US News and World Report changed their risk-adjustment methodology, now relying almost exclusively on chronic conditions for risk adjustment. The impacts of adding selected acute conditions like pneumonia, sepsis, and electrolyte dis ... Full text Link to item Cite

Age and Aspirin Dosing in Secondary Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · February 20, 2024 BACKGROUND: In patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, increasing age is concurrently associated with higher risks of ischemic and bleeding events. The objectives are to determine the impact of aspirin dose on clinical outcomes according to a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Correlations Between Relative Prevalence of Celiac Disease and Sociodemographic Variables in the United States.

Journal Article Am J Gastroenterol · February 1, 2024 INTRODUCTION: We evaluated the associations between celiac disease (CD) prevalence and regional sociodemographic variables in the United States. METHODS: The outcome was CD relative prevalence, defined as number of patients with CD among those in a Medicar ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Principled Approach to Characterize and Analyze Partially Observed Confounder Data from Electronic Health Records.

Journal Article Clin Epidemiol · 2024 OBJECTIVE: Partially observed confounder data pose challenges to the statistical analysis of electronic health records (EHR) and systematic assessments of potentially underlying missingness mechanisms are lacking. We aimed to provide a principled approach ... Full text Link to item Cite

Linking Medicare-Medicaid Claims for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Among Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries.

Journal Article Med Care · December 1, 2023 BACKGROUND: Evaluation of Medicare-Medicaid integration models' effects on patient-centered outcomes and costs requires multiple data sources and validated processes for linkage and reconciliation. OBJECTIVE: To describe the opportunities and limitations o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage, Healthcare Access, and Outcomes of Hospitalizations for Common Pulmonary Conditions: A National Study of Medicare Beneficiaries.

Journal Article Ann Am Thorac Soc · October 2023 Rationale: Understanding how systemic forces and environmental exposures impact patient outcomes is critical to advancing health equity and improving population health for patients with pulmonary disease. This relationship has not yet been assessed at the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimizing data integration in trials that use EHR data: lessons learned from a multi-center randomized clinical trial.

Journal Article Trials · September 1, 2023 BACKGROUND: Despite great promise, trials that ascertain patient clinical data from electronic health records (EHR), referred to here as "EHR-sourced" trials, are limited by uncertainty about how existing trial sites and infrastructure can be best used to ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, healthcare access, and 30-day mortality and readmission after sepsis or critical illness: findings from a nationwide study.

Journal Article Crit Care · July 15, 2023 BACKGROUND: To determine if neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation independently predicts 30-day mortality and readmission for patients with sepsis or critical illness after adjusting for individual poverty, demographics, comorbidity burden, access to heal ... Full text Link to item Cite

Non-overdose acute care hospitalizations for opioid use disorder among commercially-insured adults: a retrospective cohort study.

Journal Article Addict Sci Clin Pract · July 11, 2023 BACKGROUND: Acute care inpatient admissions outside of psychiatric facilities have been increasingly identified as a critical touchpoint for opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. We sought to describe non-opioid overdose hospitalizations with documented OUD ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pragmatic evaluation of events and benefits of lipid lowering in older adults (PREVENTABLE): Trial design and rationale.

Journal Article J Am Geriatr Soc · June 2023 Whether initiation of statins could increase survival free of dementia and disability in adults aged ≥75 years is unknown. PREVENTABLE, a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized pragmatic clinical trial, will compare high-intensity statin therapy (ator ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association Between Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and 30-Day Mortality and Readmission for Patients With Common Neurologic Conditions.

Journal Article Neurology · April 25, 2023 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patients of low individual socioeconomic status (SES) are at a greater risk of unfavorable health outcomes. However, the association between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and health outcomes for patients with neurologic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Failing To See the Forest for the Trees.

Journal Article Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg · April 2023 Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes among patients with peripheral artery disease in the Aspirin Dosing: A Patient-Centric Trial Assessing Benefits and Long-Term Effectiveness (ADAPTABLE) study.

Journal Article Vasc Med · April 2023 BACKGROUND: We aimed to understand the effects of aspirin dose on outcomes in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) as well as their participation in a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. METHODS: In a subanalysis of the Aspirin Dosing: A Patien ... Full text Link to item Cite

Moving From Idealism to Realism With Data Sharing.

Journal Article Annals of internal medicine · March 2023 Full text Cite

Association Between Device Type and Type IIIb Endoleaks Following Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair.

Journal Article Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg · January 2023 OBJECTIVE: Endoleaks following thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) can lead to the need for re-intervention and aortic rupture. Given the recent recall of a specific thoracic stent graft type due to concerns about type IIIb endoleak (T3bE), in whic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fitness of real-world data for clinical trial data collection: Results and lessons from a HARMONY Outcomes ancillary study.

Journal Article Clin Trials · December 2022 BACKGROUND: Despite the extensive use of real-world data for retrospective, observational clinical research, our understanding of how real-world data might increase the efficiency of data collection in patient-level randomized clinical trials is largely un ... Full text Link to item Cite

Healthcare Utilization for Medicaid-Insured Children with Medical Complexity: Differences by Sociodemographic Characteristics.

Journal Article Matern Child Health J · December 2022 OBJECTIVE: To compare differences in healthcare utilization and costs for Medicaid-insured children with medical complexity (CMC) by race/ethnicity and rurality. METHODS: Retrospective cohort of North Carolina (NC) Medicaid claims for children 3-20 years o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Concordance Between Patient-Reported Health Data and Electronic Health Data in the ADAPTABLE Trial.

Journal Article JAMA Cardiol · December 1, 2022 IMPORTANCE: Patient-reported health data can facilitate clinical event capture in pragmatic clinical trials. However, few data are available on the fitness for use of patient-reported data in large-scale health research. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the concorda ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Deprivation and 30-Day Mortality and Readmission for Patients Admitted for Diabetes Management.

Journal Article Diabetes Care · November 1, 2022 Full text Link to item Cite

Rates of Medicare Enrollment Among Dialysis Patients After Implementation of Medicare Payment Reform and the Affordable Care Act Marketplace.

Journal Article JAMA Netw Open · September 1, 2022 IMPORTANCE: Medicare finances health care for most US patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), regardless of age. The 2011 Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for dialysis reduced reimbursement for hemodialysis, and the 2014 Patient Protection ... Full text Link to item Cite

More Versus Better: Learning From the Medtronic Valiant Navion Recall.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Interv · July 2022 Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Evaluating fitness-for-use of electronic health records in pragmatic clinical trials: reported practices and recommendations.

Journal Article J Am Med Inform Assoc · April 13, 2022 OBJECTIVE: To empirically explore how pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) that used real-world data (RWD) assessed study-specific fitness-for-use. METHODS: We conducted interviews and surveys with PCT teams who used electronic health record (EHR) data to asce ... Full text Link to item Cite

Validation of Cardiovascular End Points Ascertainment Leveraging Multisource Electronic Health Records Harmonized Into a Common Data Model in the ADAPTABLE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · December 2021 BACKGROUND: The ADAPTABLE trial (Aspirin Dosing: A Patient-Centric Trial Assessing Benefits and Long-Term Effectiveness) is the first randomized trial conducted within the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network to use the electronic health rec ... Full text Link to item Cite

Medicaid Coverage Disruptions Among Children Enrolled in North Carolina Medicaid From 2016 to 2018.

Journal Article JAMA Health Forum · December 2021 IMPORTANCE: Brief disruptions in insurance coverage among eligible participants are associated with poorer health outcomes for children. OBJECTIVE: To describe factors associated with coverage disruptions among children enrolled in North Carolina Medicaid ... Full text Link to item Cite

Life expectancy and voting patterns in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Journal Article SSM Popul Health · September 2021 INTRODUCTION: In the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, voters in communities with recent stagnation or decline in life expectancy were more likely to vote for the Republican candidate than in prior Presidential elections. We aimed to assess the association ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical Effectiveness of Sacubitril/Valsartan Among Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · August 17, 2021 Background Sacubitril/Valsartan has been highly efficacious in randomized trials of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, the effectiveness of sacubitril/valsartan in older patients hospitalized for HFrEF in real-world US practice ... Full text Link to item Cite

Early Increased Physical Activity, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Survival After Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Implantation.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · August 2021 BACKGROUND: Increased physical activity (PA) through cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves outcomes in patients with heart failure and coronary disease, but CR referral remains infrequent. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) can provide daily PA ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sacubitril/Valsartan Initiation and Postdischarge Adherence Among Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure.

Journal Article J Card Fail · August 2021 BACKGROUND: We investigated associations between timing of sacubitril/valsartan initiation and postdischarge adherence among patients hospitalized for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Clinical trials support initiation of sacubitril/va ... Full text Link to item Cite

Regional Adiposity and Risk of Heart Failure and Mortality: The Jackson Heart Study.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · July 20, 2021 Background Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with incident heart failure (HF) and HF with preserved ejection fraction, yet it is unknown how pericardial and abdominal adiposity affect HF and mortality risks in Black individuals. We examined the a ... Full text Link to item Cite

The use of electronic health records for recruitment in clinical trials: a mixed methods analysis of the Harmony Outcomes Electronic Health Record Ancillary Study.

Journal Article Trials · July 19, 2021 BACKGROUND: The electronic health record (EHR) contains a wealth of clinical data that may be used to streamline the identification of potential clinical trial participants. However, there is little empirical information on site-level facilitators of and b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparative Effectiveness of Aspirin Dosing in Cardiovascular Disease.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · May 27, 2021 BACKGROUND: The appropriate dose of aspirin to lower the risk of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke and to minimize major bleeding in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is a subject of controversy. METHODS: Using an open ... Full text Link to item Cite

Selection Bias in Observational Studies of Palliative Care: Lessons Learned.

Journal Article J Pain Symptom Manage · May 2021 CONTEXT: Palliative care (PC) programs are typically evaluated using observational data, raising concerns about selection bias. OBJECTIVES: To quantify selection bias because of observed and unobserved characteristics in a PC demonstration program. METHODS ... Full text Link to item Cite

Life Expectancy and Voting Patterns in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Journal Article · October 28, 2020 AbstractIntroductionIn the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, voters in communities with recent stagnation or decline in life expectancy were more likely to vote for the Republican candidate ... Full text Cite

Outcomes and cost among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for heart failure assigned to accountable care organizations.

Journal Article Am Heart J · August 2020 UNLABELLED: Little is known about the impact of accountable care organizations (ACO) on hospitalized heart failure (HF) patients, a high-cost and high-risk population. OBJECTIVE: We linked Medicare fee-for-service claims from 2013 to 2015 with data from Am ... Full text Link to item Cite

Trends in Treatment for Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Before and After Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure With an Aldosterone Antagonist (TOPCAT).

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · June 1, 2020 The TOPCAT trial investigated spironolactone vs placebo in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Although the primary endpoint was not statistically significant, treatment with spironolactone did reduce heart failure hospita ... Full text Link to item Cite

Computable Phenotype Implementation for a National, Multicenter Pragmatic Clinical Trial: Lessons Learned From ADAPTABLE.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · June 2020 BACKGROUND: Many large-scale cardiovascular clinical trials are plagued with escalating costs and low enrollment. Implementing a computable phenotype, which is a set of executable algorithms, to identify a group of clinical characteristics derivable from e ... Full text Link to item Cite

Rationale and Design of the Aspirin Dosing-A Patient-Centric Trial Assessing Benefits and Long-term Effectiveness (ADAPTABLE) Trial.

Journal Article JAMA Cardiol · May 1, 2020 IMPORTANCE: Determining the right dosage of aspirin for the secondary prevention treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) remains an unanswered and critical question. OBJECTIVE: To report the rationale and design for a randomized clinica ... Full text Link to item Cite

No Increase in All-Cause Mortality at 2 Years Among Patients Undergoing Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty.

Journal Article JACC Cardiovasc Interv · April 13, 2020 Full text Link to item Cite

Association of Implantable Device Measured Physical Activity With Hospitalization for Heart Failure.

Journal Article JACC. Heart failure · April 2020 ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of physical activity (PA) level and longitudinal PA trajectory with a composite heart failure hospitalization and mortality endpoint over a 5-year follow-up period following impla ... Full text Cite

Care continuity impacts medicare expenditures of older adults: Fact or fiction?

Journal Article Healthc (Amst) · March 2020 BACKGROUND: Older adults with cardiometabolic conditions are typically seen by multiple providers. Management by multiple providers may compromise care continuity and increase health expenditures for older adults, which may partly explain the inverse assoc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Considerations for using distributed research networks to conduct aspects of randomized trials.

Journal Article Contemp Clin Trials Commun · March 2020 Stakeholders in the clinical research enterprise are aligned around the need to make clinical research in general, and randomized controlled trials in particular, more meaningful and efficient. To that end, we have built distributed research networks (DRNs ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risk Factors and Outcomes of Opioid Users with and Without Concurrent Benzodiazepine Use in the North Carolina Medicaid Population.

Journal Article J Manag Care Spec Pharm · February 2020 BACKGROUND: Concurrent use of opioids and benzodiazepines is associated with increased risk of opioid overdose and death. Clinical guidelines recommend against this practice and quality measures incentivize plans to minimize concurrent use. OBJECTIVE: To c ... Full text Link to item Cite

Data linkage in pharmacoepidemiology: A call for rigorous evaluation and reporting.

Journal Article Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · January 2020 PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance on the evaluation of data linkage quality through the development of a checklist for reporting key elements of the linkage process. METHODS: Responding to a call for manuscripts from the Internation ... Full text Link to item Cite

Rhythm Control Versus Rate Control in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: Insights From Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · December 17, 2019 Background Limited data exist to guide treatment for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and atrial fibrillation, including the important decision regarding rate versus rhythm control. Methods and Results We analyzed the Get With T ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use and 1-year outcomes with conventional and drug-coated balloon angioplasty in patients with lower extremity peripheral artery disease.

Journal Article American heart journal · November 2019 BackgroundWith the growing use of drug-coated balloons for the treatment of peripheral artery disease, information regarding the safety and effectiveness of drug-coated balloons in current practice is needed. We examined patient, physician, and pr ... Full text Cite

The Burden of Congestion in Patients Hospitalized With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · August 15, 2019 Congestion is associated with adverse outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. We characterized congestion in patients hospitalized for HF and examined the association between congestion severity at admission and postdischarge outcomes. Using the OPTIMIZE- ... Full text Link to item Cite

Re: Disproportionate Use of Inpatient Care by Older Adults with Kidney Stones.

Journal Article J Urol · July 2019 Full text Link to item Cite

Use of Medicare Claims to Identify Adverse Clinical Outcomes After Mitral Valve Repair.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Interv · May 2019 BACKGROUND: Clinical event committees are commonly employed for event validation in clinical studies, but little is known about the comparative performance of administrative claims data versus clinician-triggered event adjudication for ascertainment of adv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Measuring the burden of multimorbidity among Medicare beneficiaries via condition counts and cumulative duration.

Journal Article Health Serv Res · April 2019 OBJECTIVE: The study's purpose was to describe the cumulative duration of 19 chronic conditions among Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries and examine variation in total expenditures explained by cumulative duration and condition counts. DESIGN, SE ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hospital Resource Utilization Before and After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: The STS/ACC TVT Registry.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · March 19, 2019 BACKGROUND: Patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) have repeat hospitalizations for multiple conditions. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) on hospitalizations in severe AS. ME ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outpatient Intravenous Diuretic Therapy for Heart Failure in the United States.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · March 12, 2019 Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship Between Hospital Characteristics and Early Adoption of Angiotensin-Receptor/Neprilysin Inhibitor Among Eligible Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · February 5, 2019 Background The angiotensin-receptor/neprilysin inhibitor ( ARNI ) sacubitril/valsartan reduces hospitalization and mortality for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. However, adoption of ARNI into clinical practice has been slow. Fac ... Full text Link to item Cite

Characteristics of Acute Heart Failure Hospitalizations Based on Presenting Severity.

Journal Article Circ Heart Fail · January 2019 BACKGROUND: Hospitalizations for acute heart failure (HF) are significant events with downstream implications for patients, as well as healthcare systems and payers. However, from anecdotal experience, both hospitalization and postdischarge courses vary si ... Full text Link to item Cite

Disproportionate Use of Inpatient Care by Older Adults With Kidney Stones.

Journal Article Urology · October 2018 OBJECTIVE: To describe variation in utilization and costs of inpatient care for patients with kidney stones, examining associations with older age. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample we examined inpatient discharges with stone dia ... Full text Link to item Cite

Linking a Total Ankle Arthroplasty Registry to Medicare Inpatient Claims without Unique Identifiers.

Journal Article J Bone Joint Surg Am · June 20, 2018 BACKGROUND: Linking clinical registries to administrative claims data enables researchers to capitalize on the specific strengths of each data source with respect to the depth, breadth, and completeness of information. The objectives of this study were to ... Full text Link to item Cite

Home-Time After Discharge Among Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · June 12, 2018 BACKGROUND: Surveys of patients with cardiovascular disease have suggested that "home-time"-being alive and out of any health care institution-is a prioritized outcome. This novel measure has not been studied among patients with heart failure (HF). OBJECTI ... Full text Link to item Cite

Early impact of guideline publication on angiotensin-receptor neprilysin inhibitor use among patients hospitalized for heart failure.

Journal Article Am Heart J · June 2018 BACKGROUND: On May 20, 2016, US professional organizations in cardiology published joint treatment guidelines recommending the use of angiotensin-receptor neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) for eligible patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction ( ... Full text Link to item Cite

Trends in Noncardiovascular Comorbidities Among Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure: Insights From the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Registry.

Journal Article Circ Heart Fail · June 2018 BACKGROUND: The increase in medical complexity among patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) may be reflected by an increase in concomitant noncardiovascular comorbidities. Among patients hospitalized with HF, the temporal trends in the prevalence of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assessing Frailty in Patients Undergoing Destination Therapy Left Ventricular Assist Device: Observations from Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support.

Journal Article ASAIO J · 2018 Frailty and heart failure share common pathways with symptoms that often coexist. Assessment of frailty may inform patient selection for left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy. Using Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prescriber continuity and medication availability in older adults with cardiometabolic conditions.

Journal Article SAGE Open Med · 2018 BACKGROUND: Many older adults have multiple conditions and see multiple providers, which may impact their use of essential medications. OBJECTIVE: We examined whether the number of prescribers of these medications was associated with the availability of me ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump Use Before Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: Insights From the INTERMACS Registry.

Journal Article ASAIO J · 2018 Use of durable, continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) has expanded rapidly, although data are limited regarding optimization strategies before LVAD implantation. We examined current use of intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) before LVAD im ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hospital and clinical care costs associated with atrial fibrillation for Medicare beneficiaries in the Cardiovascular Health Study and the Framingham Heart Study.

Journal Article SAGE Open Med · 2018 BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation is increasingly prevalent as the US population ages and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Care for patients with atrial fibrillation can be costly, US health care costs are comparatively high, and there ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cardiovascular events and hospital resource utilization pre- and post-transcatheter mitral valve repair in high-surgical risk patients.

Journal Article Am Heart J · July 2017 UNLABELLED: MitraClip is an approved therapy for mitral regurgitation (MR); however, health care resource utilization pre- and post-MitraClip remains understudied. METHODS: Patients with functional and degenerative MR at high surgical risk in the EVEREST I ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of Antiarrhythmic Medications in Medicare Part D Patients With an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator and Ventricular Tachycardia.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · May 1, 2017 Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is common in cardiomyopathy patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. This analysis evaluated antiarrhythmic medication use and change in use over time in patients with VT and structural heart disease. Query of M ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prescriber Continuity and Disease Control of Older Adults.

Journal Article Med Care · April 2017 BACKGROUND: Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions are typically seen by multiple providers, particularly specialists. Clinically appropriate referrals to multiple specialists may compromise the continuity of care for multiple chronic cond ... Full text Link to item Cite

Early Adoption of Sacubitril/Valsartan for Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Insights From Get With the Guidelines-Heart Failure (GWTG-HF).

Journal Article JACC Heart Fail · April 2017 OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and variation in angiotensin receptor/neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) prescription among a real-world population with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). BACKGROUND: The U.S. Food ... Full text Link to item Cite

Characterization of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Therapy Initiation in High-Risk Patients With Heart Failure.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · January 2017 BACKGROUND: Heart failure guidelines recommend routine monitoring of serum potassium, and renal function in patients treated with a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA). How these recommendations are implemented in high-risk patients or according to ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of the landmark method to address immortal person-time bias in comparative effectiveness research: a simulation study.

Journal Article Stat Med · November 20, 2016 Observational comparative effectiveness and safety studies are often subject to immortal person-time, a period of follow-up during which outcomes cannot occur because of the treatment definition. Common approaches, like excluding immortal time from the ana ... Full text Link to item Cite

Few Disparities in Baseline Laboratory Testing After the Diuretic or Digoxin Initiation by Medicare Fee-For-Service Beneficiaries.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · November 2016 BACKGROUND: Despite the persistence of significant disparities, few evaluations examine disparities in laboratory testing by race/ethnicity, age, sex, Medicaid eligibility, and number of chronic conditions for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries' newly ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of Practice-Level Hospital Use With End-of-Life Outcomes, Readmission, and Weekend Hospitalization Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Cancer.

Journal Article J Oncol Pract · October 2016 PURPOSE: To determine the relationships between hospital use of treating oncology practices and patient outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 397,646 Medicare beneficiaries who received anticancer therapy in 2012. Each beneficiary was a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of Heart Failure Medical Therapies Among Patients With Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Insights From INTERMACS.

Journal Article J Card Fail · September 2016 BACKGROUND: Use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) for treatment of advanced heart failure has expanded significantly over the past decade. However, concomitant use of heart failure medical therapies after implant is poorly characterized. METHODS A ... Full text Link to item Cite

Appropriate baseline laboratory testing following ACEI or ARB initiation by Medicare FFS beneficiaries.

Journal Article Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · September 2016 BACKGROUND: Laboratory testing to identify contraindications and adverse drug reactions is important for safety of patients initiating angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). Rates and predictors of appropria ... Full text Link to item Cite

Significant Morbidity and Mortality Among Hospitalized End-Stage Liver Disease Patients in Medicare.

Journal Article J Pain Symptom Manage · September 2016 CONTEXT: For end-stage liver disease (ESLD) patients, care focuses on managing the life-threatening complications of portal hypertension, causing high resource utilization. OBJECTIVES: To describe the end-of-life trajectory of hospitalized ESLD patients in ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Potential Impact of Expanding Cardiac Rehabilitation in Heart Failure.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · August 30, 2016 Full text Link to item Cite

Frequency of Disparities in Laboratory Testing After Statin Initiation in Subjects ≥65 Years.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · August 1, 2016 Laboratory testing is important for the safety of older adults initiating statins, but there has been little examination of laboratory testing disparities by race/ethnicity, age, gender, Medicaid eligibility, and multimorbidity. The study's purpose was to ... Full text Link to item Cite

Antihyperglycemic Medication Use Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Heart Failure, Diabetes Mellitus, and Chronic Kidney Disease.

Journal Article Circ Heart Fail · July 2016 BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus, heart failure (HF), and chronic kidney disease are common comorbidities, but overall use and safety of antihyperglycemic medications (AHMs) among patients with these comorbidities are poorly understood. METHODS AND RESULTS: U ... Full text Link to item Cite

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and statin use among Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes mellitus.

Journal Article Diab Vasc Dis Res · May 2016 At the time of this study, guidelines recommended a primary goal of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level less than 100 mg/dL for all patients, an optional goal of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol less than 70 mg/dL for patients with overt cardiovas ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-Term Outcomes Among Elderly Survivors of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · March 15, 2016 BACKGROUND: Most studies on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have focused on immediate survival. However, little is known about long-term outcomes and resource use among survivors. METHODS AND RESULTS: Within the national CARES registry, we identified 16 206 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Discharge heart rate and β-blocker dose in patients hospitalized with heart failure: Findings from the OPTIMIZE-HF registry.

Journal Article Am Heart J · March 2016 BACKGROUND: Elevated heart rate of ≥70 beats/min despite β-blocker use may represent a new treatment target in patients in sinus rhythm with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. However, little is known about the proportion of patients with elevat ... Full text Link to item Cite

Has Public Reporting of Hospital Readmission Rates Affected Patient Outcomes?: Analysis of Medicare Claims Data.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · March 1, 2016 BACKGROUND: In 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began publicly reporting 30-day hospital readmission rates for patients discharged with acute myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure (HF), or pneumonia. OBJECTIVES: This study asses ... Full text Link to item Cite

Differences in health care use and outcomes by the timing of in-hospital worsening heart failure.

Journal Article Am Heart J · December 2015 BACKGROUND: Patients hospitalized with acute heart failure may experience worsening symptoms requiring escalation of therapy. In-hospital worsening heart failure is associated with worse in-hospital and postdischarge outcomes, but associations between the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Consistency of Laboratory Monitoring During Initiation of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Therapy in Patients With Heart Failure.

Journal Article JAMA · November 10, 2015 Full text Link to item Cite

Linkage of Laboratory Results to Medicare Fee-for-Service Claims.

Journal Article Med Care · November 2015 BACKGROUND: Medicare is the single largest purchaser of laboratory testing in the United States, yet test results associated with Medicare laboratory claims have historically not been available. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe both the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Contraindications to anticoagulation therapy and eligibility for novel anticoagulants in older patients with atrial fibrillation.

Journal Article Cardiovasc Ther · August 2015 AIMS: Oral anticoagulation therapy prevents stroke and improves survival in patients with atrial fibrillation, but the therapy is underutilized. We sought to identify the prevalence of contraindications for oral anticoagulation and the proportion of patien ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fatigue in HIV-Infected People: A Three-Year Observational Study.

Journal Article J Pain Symptom Manage · July 2015 CONTEXT: HIV-related fatigue remains the most frequent complaint of seropositive patients. OBJECTIVES: To describe the natural course of fatigue in HIV infection, in a sample (n=128) followed for a three-year period. METHODS: A longitudinal prospective des ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in survivors of inhospital cardiac arrest.

Journal Article Am Heart J · June 2015 BACKGROUND: Although implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce mortality in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, their effectiveness in survivors of "inhospital" cardiac arrest-a population with different arrest etiologies and higher i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Low use of antiarrhythmic medications and beta blockers increasing over time in medicare part d patients with cardiomyopathy and ventricular tachycardia

Conference · May 13, 2015 Cite

Hospital overhead costs: The neglected driver of health care spending?

Journal Article Journal of Health Care Finance · March 1, 2015 Objective: To examine temporal trends in hospital overhead costs relative to total hospital costs, hospital inpatient beds, and inpatient days in United States hospitals. Methods: Using Medicare data regarding nonfederal acute care hospitals in the United ... Cite

Impact of automated reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate in the veterans health administration.

Journal Article Med Care · February 2015 BACKGROUND: Early detection and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is important for slowing progression to renal failure and preventing cardiovascular events, but CKD is often not recognized and patients are referred to nephrologists too late for ti ... Full text Link to item Cite

Primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and survival in older women.

Journal Article JACC Heart Fail · February 2015 OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the benefit of primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) in women. BACKGROUND: Clinical trials of primary prevention ICDs enrolled a limited number of women. METHODS: Using a prope ... Full text Link to item Cite

Periprocedural imaging and outcomes after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Journal Article Heart · December 2014 OBJECTIVE: Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) has become an increasingly safe and effective therapy. This has been partly attributed to the use of adjunctive imaging modalities. We aimed to describe the use and associated outcomes of periprocedu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy versus medical therapy alone among patients with heart failure: analysis of the ICD Registry and ADHERE.

Conference Circ Heart Fail · November 2014 BACKGROUND: Cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) reduces morbidity and mortality among selected patients with heart failure in clinical trials. The effectiveness of this therapy in clinical practice has not been well studied. METHOD ... Full text Link to item Cite

Readmission rates and long-term hospital costs among survivors of an in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · November 2014 BACKGROUND: Although an in-hospital cardiac arrest is common, little is known about readmission patterns and an inpatient resource use among survivors of an in-hospital cardiac arrest. METHODS AND RESULTS: Within a large national registry, we examined long ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-term outcomes following development of new-onset atrial fibrillation during sepsis.

Journal Article Chest · November 2014 BACKGROUND: New-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with adverse outcomes during a sepsis hospitalization; however, long-term outcomes following hospitalization with sepsis-associated new-onset AF are unclear. METHODS: We used a Medicare 5% sample ... Full text Link to item Cite

Methodological considerations in observational comparative effectiveness research for implantable medical devices: an epidemiologic perspective.

Journal Article Am J Epidemiol · November 1, 2014 Medical devices play a vital role in diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases and are an integral part of the health-care system. Many devices, including implantable medical devices, enter the market through a regulatory pathway that was not designed ... Full text Link to item Cite

Survival after primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement among patients with chronic kidney disease.

Journal Article Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol · October 2014 BACKGROUND: Guidelines recommend that implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) candidates have an estimated longevity of ≥1 year. Longevity can be affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS AND RESULTS: Using the National Cardiovascular Data Reg ... Full text Link to item Cite

Anti-VEGF treatment patterns for neovascular age-related macular degeneration among medicare beneficiaries.

Journal Article Am J Ophthalmol · September 2014 PURPOSE: To examine the use of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy in clinical practice among patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Among 459 237 Medicare beneficia ... Full text Link to item Cite

Associations between anticoagulation therapy and risks of mortality and readmission among patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · September 2014 BACKGROUND: Patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation are at higher risk of thromboembolic events than patients with heart failure alone. Yet, the use of anticoagulation therapy varies in clinical practice, especially among older patients, for wh ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cost analysis of periprocedural imaging in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · July 15, 2014 Cardiovascular imaging is an important part of procedural planning and safety for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the costs of imaging surrounding catheter ablation of AF have not been described. Medicare fee-for-service data were u ... Full text Link to item Cite

In-hospital worsening heart failure and associations with mortality, readmission, and healthcare utilization.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · July 11, 2014 BACKGROUND: A subset of patients hospitalized with acute heart failure experiences worsening clinical status and requires escalation of therapy. Worsening heart failure is an end point in many clinical trials, but little is known about its prevalence in cl ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association between prophylactic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and survival in patients with left ventricular ejection fraction between 30% and 35%.

Journal Article JAMA · June 4, 2014 IMPORTANCE: Clinical trials of prophylactic implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) have included a minority of patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) between 30% and 35%. Because a large number of ICDs in the United States are im ... Full text Link to item Cite

Removing a constraint on hospital utilization: a natural experiment in Maryland.

Journal Article Am J Manag Care · June 1, 2014 OBJECTIVES: To limit growth in hospital utilization in the 1990s, Maryland required payers to reimburse excess hospital volume at lower case rates. In 2001, this policy changed and excess volume was paid at full case rates. We investigated the impact of th ... Link to item Cite

Trends in the use and outcomes of ventricular assist devices among medicare beneficiaries, 2006 through 2011.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · April 15, 2014 OBJECTIVES: This study sought to examine trends in mortality, readmission, and costs among Medicare beneficiaries receiving ventricular assist devices (VADs) and associations between hospital-level procedure volume and outcomes. BACKGROUND: VADs are an opt ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes of medicare beneficiaries with heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

Journal Article JACC Heart Fail · February 2014 OBJECTIVES: This study sought to examine the long-term outcomes of patients hospitalized with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation is common among patients hospitalized with heart failure. Associations of pre-existing and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adherence and persistence in the use of warfarin after hospital discharge among patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

Journal Article J Card Fail · January 2014 BACKGROUND: Postdischarge adherence and long-term persistence in the use of warfarin among patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation without contraindications have not been fully described. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified patients with heart f ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical course of atrial fibrillation in older adults: the importance of cardiovascular events beyond stroke.

Journal Article Eur Heart J · January 2014 AIMS: Atrial fibrillation increases the risks of stroke, heart failure, and death, and anticoagulation therapy increases the risk of gastrointestinal haemorrhage. However, the relative event rates for these outcomes are not well described. We sought to def ... Full text Link to item Cite

Recognition of CKD after the introduction of automated reporting of estimated GFR in the Veterans Health Administration.

Journal Article Clin J Am Soc Nephrol · January 2014 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Early detection of CKD is important for slowing progression to renal failure and preventing cardiovascular events. Automated laboratory reporting of estimated GFR (eGFR) has been introduced in many health systems to improve CKD r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Associations between use of the hospitalist model and quality of care and outcomes of older patients hospitalized for heart failure.

Journal Article JACC Heart Fail · October 2013 OBJECTIVES: This study sought to examine the associations of hospitalist and cardiologist care of patients with heart failure with outcomes and adherence to quality measures. BACKGROUND: The hospitalist model of inpatient care has grown nationally, but its ... Full text Link to item Cite

Who enrolls in the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit program? Medication use among patients with heart failure.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · September 11, 2013 BACKGROUND: Dispensing data from Medicare Part D standalone prescription drug plans are now available, but characteristics of enrollees with heart failure have not been well described. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified 81 874 patients with prevalent heart ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

QRS duration, bundle-branch block morphology, and outcomes among older patients with heart failure receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Journal Article JAMA · August 14, 2013 IMPORTANCE: The benefits of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in clinical trials were greater among patients with left bundle-branch block (LBBB) or longer QRS duration. OBJECTIVE: To measure associations between QRS duration and morphology and outco ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of immortal person-time and time scale in comparative effectiveness research for medical devices: a case for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.

Journal Article J Clin Epidemiol · August 2013 OBJECTIVES: To assess the extent of immortal time bias in estimating the clinical effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and the impact of methods of handling immortal time bias. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective population-b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transitional adherence and persistence in the use of aldosterone antagonist therapy in patients with heart failure.

Journal Article Am Heart J · June 2013 BACKGROUND: Aldosterone antagonist therapy is recommended for selected patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. Adherence to therapy in the transition from hospital to home is not well understood. METHODS: We identified patients with hear ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical effectiveness of anticoagulation therapy among older patients with heart failure and without atrial fibrillation: findings from the ADHERE registry linked to Medicare claims.

Journal Article J Card Fail · June 2013 BACKGROUND: Patients with heart failure are at higher risk for thromboembolic events, even in the absence of atrial fibrillation, but the effect of anticoagulation therapy on outcomes is uncertain. METHODS AND RESULTS: With data from a clinical registry li ... Full text Link to item Cite

Costs of newly diagnosed neovascular age-related macular degeneration among medicare beneficiaries, 2004-2008.

Journal Article Retina · April 2013 PURPOSE: To examine associations between newly diagnosed neovascular age-related macular degeneration and direct medical costs. METHODS: This retrospective observational study matched 23,133 Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with neovascular age-related mac ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-term outcomes in elderly survivors of in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · March 14, 2013 BACKGROUND: Little is known about the long-term outcomes in elderly survivors of in-hospital cardiac arrest. We determined rates of long-term survival and readmission among survivors of in-hospital cardiac arrest and examined whether these outcomes differe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Data sources for heart failure comparative effectiveness research.

Journal Article Heart Fail Clin · January 2013 Existing data sources for heart failure research offer advantages and disadvantages for CER. Clinical registries collect detailed information about disease presentation, treatment, and outcomes on a large number of patients and provide the "real-world" pop ... Full text Link to item Cite

Associations between aldosterone antagonist therapy and risks of mortality and readmission among patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.

Journal Article JAMA · November 28, 2012 CONTEXT: Aldosterone antagonist therapy for heart failure and reduced ejection fraction has been highly efficacious in randomized trials. However, questions remain regarding the effectiveness and safety of the therapy in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: To ex ... Full text Link to item Cite

National survey of hospital strategies to reduce heart failure readmissions: findings from the Get With the Guidelines-Heart Failure registry.

Journal Article Circ Heart Fail · November 2012 BACKGROUND: Reducing 30-day heart failure readmission rates is a national priority. Yet, little is known about how hospitals address the problem and whether hospital-based processes of care are associated with reductions in readmission rates. METHODS AND R ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Journal Article Circulation · October 30, 2012 BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation is common among older persons. Catheter ablation is increasingly used in patients for whom medical therapy has failed. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all fee-for-service Medicare beneficiar ... Full text Link to item Cite

Implementation of automated reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate among Veterans Affairs laboratories: a retrospective study.

Journal Article BMC Med Inform Decis Mak · July 12, 2012 BACKGROUND: Automated reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a recent advance in laboratory information technology (IT) that generates a measure of kidney function with chemistry laboratory results to aid early detection of chronic kid ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Treatment patterns for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: analysis of 284 380 medicare beneficiaries.

Journal Article Am J Ophthalmol · June 2012 PURPOSE: To examine trends in the treatment of newly diagnosed neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Among 284 380 Medicare beneficiaries with a new diagnosis between 2006 and 2008, we used the cum ... Full text Link to item Cite

In reply

Other Archives of Ophthalmology · June 1, 2012 Full text Cite

B-type natriuretic peptide level and postdischarge thrombotic events in older patients hospitalized with heart failure: insights from the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry.

Journal Article Am Heart J · June 2012 BACKGROUND: Patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) have elevated B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and increased risk for thromboembolic events. Associations between BNP level and thromboembolic events in patients with HF without atrial fibril ... Full text Link to item Cite

Design and rationale of a retrospective clinical effectiveness study of aldosterone antagonist therapy in patients with heart failure.

Journal Article Am Heart J · June 2012 BACKGROUND: Despite demonstrated efficacy in randomized trials, aldosterone antagonist therapy is not used in many eligible patients with heart failure. Questions remain about its clinical effectiveness and safety for patients who are underrepresented in r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Performance of propensity score methods when comparison groups originate from different data sources.

Journal Article Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · May 2012 PURPOSE: To examine the performance of propensity score-based methods for estimating relative risks when exposed and comparison subjects are selected from different data sources. METHODS: We conducted Monte Carlo simulations to assess the performance of pr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predicting costs among medicare beneficiaries with heart failure.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · March 1, 2012 Disease management programs that target patients with the highest risk of subsequent costs may help payers and providers control health care costs, but identifying these patients prospectively is challenging. We hypothesized that medical history and clinic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence and prevalence of atrial fibrillation and associated mortality among Medicare beneficiaries, 1993-2007.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · January 2012 BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and costly problem among older persons. The frequency of AF increases with age, but representative national data about incidence and prevalence are limited. We examined the annual incidence, prevalence, and ... Full text Link to item Cite

In reply

Other Archives of Ophthalmology · January 1, 2012 Full text Cite

Pharmacologic prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism and 30-day outcomes among older patients hospitalized with heart failure: an analysis from the ADHERE national registry linked to Medicare claims.

Journal Article Clin Cardiol · November 2011 BACKGROUND: Hospitalized medically ill patients are at greater risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Although pharmacologic prophylaxis regimens have reduced VTE risk in medically ill patients, associations with early postdischarge adverse clinical outcom ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predicting long-term mortality in older patients after non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: the CRUSADE long-term mortality model and risk score.

Journal Article Am Heart J · November 2011 OBJECTIVES: We sought to develop a long-term mortality risk prediction model and a simplified risk score for use in older patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). BACKGROUND: Limited data are available regarding long-term mort ... Full text Link to item Cite

Associations of patient demographic characteristics and regional physician density with early physician follow-up among medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with heart failure.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · October 1, 2011 Early physician follow-up after a heart failure (HF) hospitalization is associated with lower risk of readmission. However, factors associated with early physician follow-up are not well understood. We identified 30,136 patients with HF ≥65 years at 225 ho ... Full text Link to item Cite

Erratum: Outcomes of inpatients with and without sickle cell disease after high-volume surgical procedures

Journal Article American Journal of Hematology · October 1, 2011 Full text Cite

Use of patient-reported outcomes in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.

Journal Article Med Care · April 2011 BACKGROUND: To optimize the use of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical research, it is first necessary to review the current use of these outcomes in clinical trials to determine under what circumstances they are most useful, and to reveal current ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assessment of left ventricular function in older Medicare beneficiaries with newly diagnosed heart failure.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · January 1, 2011 BACKGROUND: Assessment of left ventricular function is a recommended performance measure for the care of patients with newly diagnosed heart failure. Little is known about the extent to which left ventricular function is assessed in real-world settings. ME ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incremental value of clinical data beyond claims data in predicting 30-day outcomes after heart failure hospitalization.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · January 1, 2011 BACKGROUND: Administrative claims data are used routinely for risk adjustment and hospital profiling for heart failure outcomes. As clinical data become more readily available, the incremental value of adding clinical data to claims-based models of mortali ... Full text Link to item Cite

Physiological and psychosocial factors that predict HIV-related fatigue.

Journal Article AIDS Behav · December 2010 Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms experienced by HIV-infected people. We report the results of our longitudinal analysis of physiological and psychosocial factors that were thought to predict changes in HIV-related fatigue in 128 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Generalizability and longitudinal outcomes of a national heart failure clinical registry: Comparison of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry (ADHERE) and non-ADHERE Medicare beneficiaries.

Journal Article Am Heart J · November 2010 BACKGROUND: Clinical registries are used increasingly to analyze quality and outcomes, but the generalizability of findings from registries is unclear. METHODS: We linked data from the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry (ADHERE) to 100% fe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risks of mortality, myocardial infarction, bleeding, and stroke associated with therapies for age-related macular degeneration.

Journal Article Arch Ophthalmol · October 2010 OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between therapies for age-related macular degeneration and risks of all-cause mortality, incident myocardial infarction, bleeding, and incident stroke. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 146,942 Medicar ... Full text Link to item Cite

Successful linking of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons adult cardiac surgery database to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare data.

Journal Article Ann Thorac Surg · October 2010 BACKGROUND: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare database complements The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) database by providing information about long-term outcomes and cost. This study demonstrates the feasibility of linking ST ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-term outcomes of medicare beneficiaries with worsening renal function during hospitalization for heart failure.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · June 15, 2010 We examined whether worsening renal function (RF) was associated with long-term mortality, readmission, and inpatient costs in Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with heart failure (HF). Baseline renal insufficiency in patients hospitalized for HF is asso ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship between early physician follow-up and 30-day readmission among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for heart failure.

Journal Article JAMA · May 5, 2010 CONTEXT: Readmission after hospitalization for heart failure is common. Early outpatient follow-up after hospitalization has been proposed as a means of reducing readmission rates. However, there are limited data describing patterns of follow-up after hear ... Full text Link to item Cite

Changes in the use and costs of diagnostic imaging among Medicare beneficiaries with cancer, 1999-2006.

Journal Article JAMA · April 28, 2010 CONTEXT: Emerging technologies, changing diagnostic and treatment patterns, and changes in Medicare reimbursement are contributing to increasing use of imaging in cancer. Imaging is the fastest growing expense for Medicare but has not been examined among b ... Full text Link to item Cite

Process of care performance measures and long-term outcomes in patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Journal Article Med Care · March 2010 BACKGROUND: Recent efforts to improve care for patients hospitalized with heart failure have focused on process-based performance measures. Data supporting the link between current process measures and patient outcomes are sparse. OBJECTIVE: To examine the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationships between emerging measures of heart failure processes of care and clinical outcomes.

Journal Article Am Heart J · March 2010 BACKGROUND: Previous studies have not confirmed associations between some current performance measures for inpatient heart failure processes of care and postdischarge outcomes. It is unknown if alternative measures are associated with outcomes. METHODS: Us ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clopidogrel use and clinical events after drug-eluting stent implantation: findings from the HealthCore Integrated Research Database.

Journal Article Am Heart J · March 2010 BACKGROUND: Relationships between long-term use and level of dual antiplatelet therapy and outcomes after drug-eluting stent implantation are not well established. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of 9,256 patients receiving drug-eluting stent ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship between cardiac rehabilitation and long-term risks of death and myocardial infarction among elderly Medicare beneficiaries.

Journal Article Circulation · January 5, 2010 BACKGROUND: For patients with coronary heart disease, exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation improves survival rate and has beneficial effects on risk factors for coronary artery disease. The relationship between the number of sessions attended and long-ter ... Full text Link to item Cite

Resource use and costs of branch and central retinal vein occlusion in the elderly.

Journal Article Curr Med Res Opin · January 2010 OBJECTIVE: To examine the incidence, prevalence, resource use, and costs associated with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in elderly patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study of a n ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators among medicare beneficiaries with heart failure.

Journal Article Circ Heart Fail · January 2010 BACKGROUND: The clinical effectiveness of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in older patients with heart failure has not been established, and older patients have been underrepresented in previous studies. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified pa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes of inpatients with and without sickle cell disease after high-volume surgical procedures.

Journal Article Am J Hematol · November 2009 In this study, we examined differences in inpatient costs, length of stay, and in-hospital mortality between hospitalizations for patients with and without sickle cell disease (SCD) undergoing high-volume surgical procedures. We used Clinical Classificatio ... Full text Link to item Cite

External validity of the cardiovascular health study: a comparison with the Medicare population.

Journal Article Med Care · August 2009 BACKGROUND: The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), a population-based prospective cohort study, has been used to identify major risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and stroke in the elderly. OBJECTIVE: To assess the external validity of the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Representativeness of a national heart failure quality-of-care registry: comparison of OPTIMIZE-HF and non-OPTIMIZE-HF Medicare patients.

Journal Article Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes · July 2009 BACKGROUND: Participation in clinical registries is nonrandom, so participants may differ in important ways from nonparticipants. The extent to which findings from clinical registries can be generalized to broader populations is unclear. METHODS AND RESULT ... Full text Link to item Cite

Linking inpatient clinical registry data to Medicare claims data using indirect identifiers.

Journal Article Am Heart J · June 2009 BACKGROUND: Inpatient clinical registries generally have limited ability to provide a longitudinal perspective on care beyond the acute episode. We present a method to link hospitalization records from registries with Medicare inpatient claims data, withou ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical effectiveness of coronary stents in elderly persons: results from 262,700 Medicare patients in the American College of Cardiology-National Cardiovascular Data Registry.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · May 5, 2009 OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare outcomes in older individuals receiving drug-eluting stents (DES) and bare-metal stents (BMS). BACKGROUND: Comparative effectiveness of DES relative to BMS remains unclear. METHODS: Outcomes were evaluated i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes of medicare beneficiaries with ventricular assist devices reply

Journal Article JAMA · April 22, 2009 Full text Cite

Chronicity and remission of fatigue in patients with established HIV infection.

Journal Article AIDS Patient Care STDS · April 2009 Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating complaints of HIV-positive individuals, potentially leading to important functional limitations. We recruited 128 HIV-positive individuals (fatigued and nonfatigued) between March 2005 and May 2006; 66% we ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical effectiveness of beta-blockers in heart failure: findings from the OPTIMIZE-HF (Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment in Hospitalized Patients with Heart Failure) Registry.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · January 13, 2009 OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine associations between initiation of beta-blocker therapy and outcomes among elderly patients hospitalized for heart failure. BACKGROUND: Beta-blockers are guideline-recommended therapy for heart failure, but their clinical e ... Full text Link to item Cite

Early and long-term outcomes of heart failure in elderly persons, 2001-2005.

Journal Article Arch Intern Med · December 8, 2008 BACKGROUND: The treatment of chronic heart failure has improved during the past 2 decades, but little is known about whether the improvements are reflected in trends in early and long-term mortality and hospital readmission. METHODS: In a retrospective coh ... Full text Link to item Cite

Resource use and costs associated with diabetic macular edema in elderly persons.

Journal Article Arch Ophthalmol · December 2008 OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in resource use and the effect of incident diabetic macular edema (DME) on 1- and 3-year total direct medical costs in elderly patients. METHODS: We used a nationally representative 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 2000 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-term outcomes and costs of ventricular assist devices among Medicare beneficiaries.

Journal Article JAMA · November 26, 2008 CONTEXT: In 2003, Medicare expanded coverage of ventricular assist devices as destination, or permanent, therapy for end-stage heart failure. Little is known about the long-term outcomes and costs associated with these devices. OBJECTIVE: To examine the ac ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association between the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and patient wait times and travel distance for chemotherapy.

Journal Article JAMA · July 9, 2008 CONTEXT: The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) altered reimbursements for outpatient chemotherapy drugs and drug administration services. Anecdotal reports suggest that these adjustments may have negatively affect ... Full text Link to item Cite

Medical costs of abnormal serum sodium levels.

Journal Article J Am Soc Nephrol · April 2008 An abnormal serum sodium level is the most common electrolyte disorder in the United States and can have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality. The direct medical costs of abnormal serum sodium levels are not well understood. The impact of hypona ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of heart failure on patients undergoing major noncardiac surgery.

Journal Article Anesthesiology · April 2008 BACKGROUND: Changes in the demographics and epidemiology of patients with cardiovascular comorbidities who undergo major noncardiac surgery require an updated assessment of which patients are at greater risk of mortality or readmission. The authors evaluat ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence and prevalence of heart failure in elderly persons, 1994-2003.

Journal Article Arch Intern Med · February 25, 2008 BACKGROUND: Recent analyses have presented conflicting evidence regarding the incidence and prevalence of heart failure in the United States. We sought to estimate the annual incidence and prevalence of heart failure and associated survival in elderly pers ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pancreatic beta-cell function as a predictor of cardiovascular outcomes and costs: findings from the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Journal Article Curr Med Res Opin · January 2008 OBJECTIVE: To explore relationships between beta-cell function and incident cardiovascular events, death, and medical costs among elderly individuals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a prospective, population-based cohort of 4555 elderly individuals, we ex ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Medicare Modernization Act and reimbursement for outpatient chemotherapy: do patients perceive changes in access to care?

Journal Article Cancer · November 15, 2007 BACKGROUND: The primary objectives were to measure and compare time to initiation of chemotherapy for patients undergoing treatment either before or after the enactment of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), an ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex differences in the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death.

Journal Article JAMA · October 3, 2007 CONTEXT: Previous studies of sex differences in the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) predate recent expansions in Medicare coverage and did not provide patient follow-up over multiple years. OBJECTIVE: To examine sex differences in ICD ... Full text Link to item Cite

Costs of the metabolic syndrome in elderly individuals: findings from the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Journal Article Diabetes Care · October 2007 OBJECTIVE: The cardiovascular consequences of the metabolic syndrome and its component risk factors have been documented in elderly individuals. Little is known about how the metabolic syndrome and its individual components translate into long-term medical ... Full text Link to item Cite

Using inverse probability-weighted estimators in comparative effectiveness analyses with observational databases.

Journal Article Med Care · October 2007 Inverse probability-weighted estimation is a powerful tool for use with observational data. In this article, we describe how this propensity score-based method can be used to compare the effectiveness of 2 or more treatments. First, we discuss the inherent ... Full text Link to item Cite

A decade of short-term outcomes in post cardiac surgery ventricular assist device implantation: data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' National Cardiac Database.

Journal Article Circulation · August 7, 2007 BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed 75% mortality before hospital discharge in patients with a ventricular assist device (VAD) placed for post-cardiac surgery shock. We examined a large national clinical database to assess trends in the incidence of post-c ... Full text Link to item Cite

A SAS/IML software program for GEE and regression diagnostics

Journal Article Computational Statistics and Data Analysis · November 15, 2006 A SAS/IML software program is described that computes regression diagnostics for generalized estimating equations. These diagnostics are computationally efficient and accurate approximations for the effect of deleting one observation or one cluster on indi ... Full text Cite

National evaluation of adherence to beta-blocker therapy for 1 year after acute myocardial infarction in patients with commercial health insurance.

Journal Article Am Heart J · September 2006 BACKGROUND: Quality measures of evidence-based medications post-myocardial infarction have focused on prescription at hospital discharge. Yet survival benefits of these medications are best realized with sustained therapy. We sought to examine long-term be ... Full text Link to item Cite

Response to letter regarding article, "Long-term adherence to evidence-based secondary prevention therapies in coronary artery disease" [2]

Journal Article Circulation · August 1, 2006 Full text Cite

Multifaceted intervention to promote beta-blocker use in heart failure.

Journal Article Am Heart J · May 2006 BACKGROUND: Despite a survival benefit and guideline recommendation for beta-blockers in left ventricular systolic dysfunction, beta-blockers are underused in clinical practice. METHODS: Medical practices with > or = 15 patients with heart failure (HF) in ... Full text Link to item Cite

How obesity affects the cut-points for B-type natriuretic peptide in the diagnosis of acute heart failure. Results from the Breathing Not Properly Multinational Study.

Journal Article Am Heart J · May 2006 BACKGROUND: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is valuable in diagnosing heart failure (HF), but its utility in obese patients is unknown. Studies have suggested a cut-point of BNP > or = 100 pg/mL for the diagnosis of HF; however, there is an inverse relati ... Full text Link to item Cite

Determinants of operative mortality in valvular heart surgery.

Journal Article J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · March 2006 OBJECTIVE: In some respects, outcome reporting in valvular surgery has been hampered by focusing on specific populations, reluctance to publish high-risk subgroups, and possibly skewed or inadequate samples. The goal of this study was to evaluate risk fact ... Full text Link to item Cite

Long-term adherence to evidence-based secondary prevention therapies in coronary artery disease.

Journal Article Circulation · January 17, 2006 BACKGROUND: Studies have examined the use of evidence-based therapies for coronary artery disease (CAD) in the short term and at hospital discharge, but few have evaluated long-term use. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disea ... Full text Link to item Cite

A survey of health care practitioners' knowledge of the QT interval.

Journal Article J Gen Intern Med · May 2005 OBJECTIVE: To assess health care practitioners' ability to correctly measure the QT interval, and to identify factors and medications that may increase the risk of QT-interval prolongation and torsades de pointes. DESIGN: A cross-sectional analysis of a su ... Full text Link to item Cite

From controlled trials to clinical practice: monitoring transmyocardial revascularization use and outcomes.

Journal Article J Am Coll Cardiol · November 5, 2003 OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine trends in the use and outcomes of transmyocardial revascularization (TMR) in community practice. We also identified important risk factors for TMR and compared outcomes of TMR combined with coronary artery bypass graft surg ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evaluation of the dofetilide risk-management program.

Journal Article Am Heart J · November 2003 BACKGROUND: Dose-dependent torsades de pointes has been shown to occur with dofetilide (Tikosyn) and sotalol HCl (Betapace AF); thus, detailed dosing and monitoring recommendations to minimize this risk are included in the product labeling for both drugs. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Does the EuroSCORE perform well on the STS population?

Journal Article Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · August 2003 Full text Link to item Cite

Validation of European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) in North American cardiac surgery.

Journal Article Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · July 2002 OBJECTIVE: To assess the performance of the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) when applied in a North American cardiac surgical population. METHODS: The simple additive EuroSCORE model was applied to predict operative mortal ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patient-reported frequency of taking aspirin in a population with coronary artery disease.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · May 1, 2002 Despite the established benefits of antiplatelet agents in coronary artery disease (CAD), many appropriate patients are not receiving them. We investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with aspirin use and nonuse within a large referral populat ... Full text Link to item Cite

Underuse of aspirin in a referral population with documented coronary artery disease.

Journal Article Am J Cardiol · March 15, 2002 Despite substantial evidence that antiplatelet therapy saves lives and reduces adverse events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), use of the most widely available and lowest cost antiplatelet agent, aspirin, continues to be disappointingly low. ... Full text Link to item Cite

A decade of change--risk profiles and outcomes for isolated coronary artery bypass grafting procedures, 1990-1999: a report from the STS National Database Committee and the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Journal Article Ann Thorac Surg · February 2002 BACKGROUND: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Adult Cardiac Database is the largest voluntary clinical database in medicine. Using this database we examined changes in the risk profile of patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting ... Full text Link to item Cite

Representation of elderly persons and women in published randomized trials of acute coronary syndromes.

Journal Article JAMA · August 8, 2001 CONTEXT: Elderly persons and women were underrepresented in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) prior to 1990. Since then, efforts have been made to correct these biases, but their effect is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the percentage of elderl ... Full text Link to item Cite

Frequency of grandparent contact with grandchild sets: six factors that make a difference.

Journal Article Gerontologist · June 1998 Using data from the second wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, the authors examine the determinants of frequent and infrequent visiting between grandparents and their grandchild sets. A grandchild set consists of all the children of a p ... Full text Link to item Cite