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PubMed1998

Facial fracture classification according to skeletal support mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE: To construct, propose, and evaluate the usefulness of a new clinical facial fracture classification scheme to accurately denote, communicate, and compare facial fractures. DESIGN: A retrospective, consecutive sample study with application of the proposed classification scheme to denote maxillary and zygomatic fractures with computed tomography. SETTING: Metropolitan tertiary care trauma center. PATIENTS: A total of 213 consecutive adult patients with facial fractures evaluated by means of 2-dimensional computed tomography. RESULTS: The classification scheme is defined according to fractures of vertical buttresses and horizontal beams. The scheme uses 3 primary descriptors of laterality and support sites to denote the clinical pattern of the fractures. This scheme was accurately applied and sufficient to describe 87 midfacial fracture patterns in this study. In addition, 118 (98%) of 120 mock fracture patterns were correctly transcribed and reproducibly communicated among 12 participating physicians. CONCLUSIONS: This newly proposed facial fracture classification scheme provides a convenient, specific, descriptive, and reproducible method of denoting fracture patterns. This scheme may be used to accurately communicate and compare, in greater detail than permitted using current independent classification schemes, the essential site and degree-of-severity characteristics of facial fractures critical to their surgical reduction and reconstruction. The usefulness of this classification scheme in determining optimal methods and subsequent outcomes in midfacial fracture reduction requires further investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Medical Information Bus usage for automated IV pump data acquisition: evaluation of usage patterns.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors which influence the choice of nurses to use automated collection of i.v. pump data from a prototype Medical Information Bus. DESIGN: Observational study for a duration of three and one-half months. SETTING: Four intensive care units, each with different missions, in an adult hospital. SUBJECTS: One hundred fifty-eight registered nurses including both full and part time. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Data were collected from the hospital information system about infusion orders including the type of medication, the number of rate changes, the method of documenting rate changes and the infusion methods. The method of documentation for infusion rate changes was defined as either automated, using a prototype Medical Information Bus (MIB), or manual, using the keyboard at a bedside computer terminal. The method of infusion was defined as either straight gravity feed without an i.v. pump ('no pump'), infusion using a pump but without connection to the hospital information system ('pump only') and infusion using a pump which was connected to the hospital information system using a prototype Medical Information Bus ('automated'). A total of 22,199 rate changes were documented during the study period and of those, 22,055 (99.35%) used the 'automated' method. Medications with the highest average rate change per single container were; Nitroprusside Sodium (9.50), Epinephrine (9.08) and Epoprostenol (7.50). CONCLUSIONS: The nurses used automated i.v. pump data acquisition with medications which required frequent rate changes.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2006

A model for predicting delay in discharge of stroke patients.

AIMS: To study the factors that predict delay in discharge (DD) for stroke victims when they are admitted to hospital and to build a model for predicting DD in our hospital. METHOD: A retrospective study of 214 stroke victims admitted to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service (PMRS) of a general hospital between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 2001. Seventeen clinical and sociodemographic data were studied to determine which factors were predictors of DD: age, sex, type of stroke, side affected, sphincter control, ability to communicate, level of consciousness, deep sensitivity, antecedents of cardiovascular risk, delay before admission to the PMRS, initial functional state and solitude, whether the patient was employed prior to the cerebrovascular accident, and whether the patient's place of residence had any exterior architectural barriers. RESULTS: A total of 26.6% of patients experienced DD. Factors influencing DD were solitude (odds ratio [OR] 6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.2-16.1), an initial functional independence measure (FIM) below 50 (OR 4.5; 95% CI 2.3-8.9) and age greater than 75 years (OR 2.7; 95% CI 1.2-6.1). The best model for predicting DD comprises seven variables: solitude, initial FIM below 50, older than 75 years, left hemiparesis, exterior architectonic barriers at home, cardiovascular antecedents and sex (male). This model has a specificity of 89% and a sensitivity of 40%. CONCLUSION: Solitude, low initial FIM and age older than 75 years influence DD for patients with stroke admitted to hospital. A model for predicting DD is described.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A Magnet community hospital: Fewer barriers to nursing research utilization.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the barriers to research utilization for nurses within a Magnet community hospital. DESIGN: A descriptive, quantitative design was used. METHODS: The instrument used was the BARRIERS scale, a 29-item Likert-type questionnaire, regarding perceived obstacles to research utilization. It included 3 open-ended questions. In all, 584 packets containing the BARRIERS tool and a demographic survey were successfully distributed. A total of 275 (47%) completed questionnaires were returned. RESULTS: The questions were categorized into 4 domains: Nurse, Setting, Research, and Presentation. The Setting domain was found to be the greatest barrier for nurses. Four of the top 5 barriers related to the Setting. Facilitators to implementing research fell within 4 distinct themes: access and availability, education and communication, practical application, and supportive environment. A statistically significant difference was found in the Nurse domain based on the education level (F = 2.932) (P = .034). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study will be useful in determining strategies for improving the nurse practice setting to facilitate the use of research by nurses. Suggested changes should encourage the reading of research; discussion of research; risk taking to implement new ideas; mentoring; and education of nursing staff, hospital administration, and physicians. Implementation of the Magnet standards is likely to diminish the barriers to research use by nurses within that facility.

Accreditation↗
PubMed2004

The medical-legal aspects of compartment syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Management of compartment syndrome in the modern era involves not only avoiding the sequelae of a missed diagnosis but also minimizing the risk of a malpractice claim. Little information is available on the legal aspects of compartment syndrome. METHODS: Twenty-three years of records on closed malpractice claims involving compartment syndrome were reviewed. The data were abstracted from medical records and were analyzed to determine the factors associated with a successful defense. RESULTS: Nineteen closed claims, involving sixteen patients and encompassing a total liability of 3.8 million USD, were found in the data for malpractice claims closed between 1980 and 2003. Ten claims were resolved in favor of the physician. The average time to closure was 5.5 years. All three claims that went to trial resulted in a verdict for the physician. Evidence of poor physician-patient communication was found in six cases, all of which resulted in an indemnity payment (p < 0.01). Increasing time from the onset of symptoms to the fasciotomy was linearly associated with an increased indemnity payment (p < 0.05). A fasciotomy performed within eight hours after the first presentation of symptoms was uniformly associated with a successful defense. CONCLUSIONS: While malpractice claims involving compartment syndrome were uncommon, they resulted in a high rate and amount of indemnity payments. Early fasciotomy not only improves patient outcome but is also associated with decreased indemnity risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mobile radiography CQI: an inter-national study.

Mobile or bedside radiography has been and is a staple diagnostic and follow-up tool used readily by the many medical disciplines, such as cardiology, surgery, orthopedics, pediatrics, neonatology, etc. Ironically, in the past a student or the least qualified technologist was sent to perform the bedside exam. Moreover, it was almost expected that poor but acceptable film quality would result or that repeat films were almost always to be taken. Inefficiency with respect to quality of exam, the time the exam takes, or film repeats can be costly. The price of inefficiency is the cost involved in doing things incorrectly or not in the most efficient manner, i.e., incurring inefficiencies instead of operating in an ideal manner. The purpose of this study was to compare the total cost of inefficiently organized, scheduled and performed mobile radiography at three large teaching hospitals in various locations and of diverse patient loads, as a means of determining how best to increase utilization and performance. The study was performed at the 489-bed New England Deaconess Hospital (NEDH), the 644-bed Sentara Norfolk General Hospital (SNGH), and the 1500-bed Rheinische Westfalische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) in Aachen, Germany. Similar standardized study methods were utilized at all three institutions where extended observation of mobile utilization, areas of inefficiency, time wasted per episode and number of episodes per time period were determined. Data were loggedin at three standardized time periods, summated, and then multiplied by technologist hourly pay rate. This sum was extrapolated over 52 weeks to give the total annual cost of inefficiently organized mobile radiography. For NEDH the cost of total inefficiency was $75,453, for SNGH $49,586, while for RWTH it was $9,519. Eighteen areas of inefficiency were identified and grouped, such as lack of spatial cohesiveness and lack of communication leading to film duplication, etc. While inefficiencies in the delivery of hospital based health care are well known, this study attempts to quantify and determine a dollar value for each process found as inefficient. Key inefficiencies were found to be common at large hospitals no matter whether in the United States or Europe. These impairments are responsible for a disproportionate share of overall inefficiency, and their elimination (achievable by simple solutions) would result in drastic cost reductions (ranging from 40-75% at the institutions studied). Thus this study is important in view of spiralling costs, as it is a key component of total quality management (TQM) in radiology and a continuous quality improvement (CQI) tool for mobile radiology specifically.

Efficiency, Organizational↗
PubMed2004

Pain assessment and management in critically ill intubated patients: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Little research has been done on pain assessment in critical care, especially in patients who cannot communicate verbally. OBJECTIVES: To describe (1) pain indicators used by nurses and physicians for pain assessment, (2) pain management (pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions) undertaken by nurses to relieve pain, and (3) pain indicators used for pain reassessment by nurses to verify the effectiveness of pain management in patients who are intubated. METHODS: Medical files from 2 specialized healthcare centers in Quebec City, Quebec, were reviewed. A data collection instrument based on Melzack's theory was developed from existing tools. Pain-related indicators were clustered into nonobservable/subjective (patients' self-reports of pain) and observable/objective (physiological and behavioral) categories. RESULTS: A total of 183 pain episodes in 52 patients who received mechanical ventilation were analyzed. Observable indicators were recorded 97% of the time. Patients' self-reports of pain were recorded only 29% of the time, a practice contradictory to recommendations for pain assessment. Pharmacological interventions were used more often (89% of the time) than nonpharmacological interventions (<25%) for managing pain. Almost 40% of the time, pain was not reassessed after an intervention. For reassessments, observable indicators were recorded 66% of the time; patients self-reports were recorded only 8% of the time. CONCLUSIONS: Pain documentation in medical files is incomplete or inadequate. The lack of a pain assessment tool may contribute to this situation. Research is still needed in the development of tools to enhance pain assessment in critically ill intubated patients.

Analgesics↗
PubMed1994

Palliative care in the community: setting practice guidelines for primary care teams.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated deficiencies in palliative care in the community. One method of translating the results of research into clinical practice, in order to produce more effective health care, is the development of clinical guidelines. Setting standards for such care has been performed by care teams in both hospital and hospice settings but not in primary care. AIM: This study set out to develop guidelines for primary care teams to follow in the provision of palliative care in the community using facilitated case discussions with the members of such teams, as a form of internal audit. METHOD: Five practices were randomly chosen from the family health services authority medical list. Meetings between the facilitators and primary care teams were held over a period of one year. The teams were asked to describe good aspects of care, areas of concern and suggestions to improve these, in recent cases of patient deaths. RESULTS: In total 56 cases were discussed. All practices felt that cohesive teamwork, coordinated management, early involvement of nursing staff and the identification of a key worker were essential for good terminal care. Concerns arose in clinical and administrative areas but the majority were linked to poor communication, either between patient and professionals within the primary care team or between primary and secondary care. All the positive aspects of care, concerns and suggestions were collated by the facilitators into guidelines for teams to refer to from the initial diagnosis of a terminal illness through to the patient's death and care of the relatives afterwards. CONCLUSION: Developing multidisciplinary as opposed to medical guidelines for palliative care allows primary health care teams to create standards that are acceptable to them and stimulates individuals within the teams to accept responsibility for initiating the change necessary for more effective care. The process of facilitating teams to discuss their work allows for recognition and respect of individuals' roles and more importantly provides shared ownership, an important contributory factor in the implementation of guidelines.

Clinical Protocols↗
PubMed2007

[Glottal and supraglottal configuration during whispering].

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to assess glottal and supraglottal configurations during whispering in comparison to habitual phonation and to visually estimate to what extent force is exerted onto the vocal fold epithelium during whispering. Is whispering a good compromise between preservation of epithelium and permission to communicate orally, e. g. postoperatively? PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated on 100 patients with organic or non-organic voice disorders. Patients with vocal fold immobility and patients with organic lesions large enough to impede glottal closure were excluded. Videolaryngoscopy and stroboscopy was performed via flexible endoscopy. During fiberoscopy the patients were asked (i) to phonate and then whisper a series of vowels in various loudness levels and (ii) to count to 10 voiced and whispered in various loudness levels. The extent of vocal fold adduction and supraglottal configuration were assessed and whispering compared with voiced phonation. RESULTS: Interindividual differences in glottal and supraglottal configuration during whispering were seen. The two different and most frequently seen glottal area patterns were determined by the position of the vocal processes - either adducted or abducted. Adduction resulted in sole cartilaginous triangle formation or 'kissing processes', abduction in ligamentous and cartilaginous triangle. Another surprising result was that with increasing loudness either a narrowing or widening of glottal and supraglottal structures was visible. CONCLUSIONS: There are different patterns of glottal and supraglottal configuration during whispering. Although the vocal folds can show partial or total contact over the membranous parts, the lack of additional vibration of the vocal folds suggests that epithelial forces are smaller than with additional vibratory shear stress. Thus, whispering may be considered and allowed for postoperative communication purposes, when patients follow instructions for low-effort whispering.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Assessment of dementia in nursing home residents by nurses and assistants: criteria validity and determinants.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the criterion validity of nursing home staff's assessment of organic disorder compared with ICD-10 criteria, and to identify determinants of staff assessment of organic disorder. METHOD: Two hundred and eighty-eight residents were diagnosed using the GMS-AGECAT. Nursing staff members were interviewed about the residents' activities of Daily Living, behavioural problems, orientation in surroundings and communication skills, and asked if the resident had an organic disorder. Multiple logistic regression was used to select the items that most strongly determined staff assessment of organic disorder. RESULTS: Sixty-two per cent of the residents were diagnosed by GMS-AGECAT as having organic disorder, 78% of these were correctly identified by the staff. Whether analysed among residents with or without organic disorder, or in the total group of residents, the staff assessment of the presence of organic disorder depended on a limited set of behavioural characteristics of the resident, namely 'going to the toilet in inappropriate places', 'saying things that do not make sense' and impairment in orientation. CONCLUSIONS: Staff comprehension of organic disorder resulted in over- as well as under-labelling of residents, a tendency that will affect communication with medical personnel and may lead to inadequate or wrong medical treatment and to negative performance as well as negative role expectations in everyday life in nursing homes.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Pseudoaneurysms of the mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa: dynamic characterization using transesophageal echocardiographic and Doppler techniques.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of echocardiographic and Doppler features of pseudoaneurysms involving the mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa and to compare echocardiographic and aortographic findings. BACKGROUND: Infection of the aortic valve may spread to the aortic annulus, resulting in ring abscesses or pseudoaneurysms, or both, of the intervalvular fibrosa, which can alter patient management and prognosis. METHODS: The echocardiographic and Doppler findings of 20 patients with pseudoaneurysms or ring abscesses, or both, were reviewed and compared with surgical and aortographic results. RESULTS: A total of 23 lesions were identified, of which 16 were intervalvular pseudoaneurysms, and 7 were ring abscesses. Transthoracic echocardiography detected 43% of the lesions, whereas transesophageal echocardiography identified 90% (p < 0.01). The most distinct feature of the pseudoaneurysms was marked pulsatility, with systolic expansion and diastolic collapse (mean systolic area [+/- SD] 4.1 +/- 3.4 cm2 vs. diastolic mean area 1.8 +/- 2.2 cm2, p < 0.05). Using color Doppler, two types were identified: unruptured pseudoaneurysms (n = 9), which communicated only with the left ventricular outflow tract and had a distinct flow pattern, and ruptured pseudoaneurysms (n = 7), which, in addition, communicated with the left atrium or aorta. Compared with pseudoaneurysms, ring abscesses were smaller and nonpulsatile and showed either no flow or continuous systolic and diastolic flow, the site of paravalvular aortic insufficiency. In 10 patients who underwent aortography, three lesions were identified, and findings were concordant with echocardiography. However, in seven patients aortographic findings were normal, whereas echocardiography identified intervalvular pseudoaneurysms, all of which were documented at operation. CONCLUSIONS: Intervalvular pseudoaneurysms are more frequently detected by transesophageal echocardiography than by aortography or transthoracic examination and exhibit distinct dynamic features and Doppler patterns that can further help characterize cavitary lesions in the aortic root and guide appropriate surgical intervention.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Parental attitude towards mass antimicrobial prophylaxis during a school-associated pertussis outbreak.

We describe parental attitude towards mass antimicrobial prophylaxis and adolescent booster vaccination to prevent pertussis. A survey was distributed to parents at a large suburban high school where an outbreak of pertussis was occurring. A total of 314 surveys were received among 450 distributed. If antimicrobial prophylaxis was recommended for all students and faculty as a method of controlling a pertussis outbreak in their child's school (i.e. mass antimicrobial prophylaxis), 40% of parents would have their child take the medication and 49% might have their child take the antibiotic but would first consult their child's physician. Having > or =2 children attend the high school (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.10-4.59) and generally favouring immunizations (OR 1.7, 95% CI 0.99-2.87) were predictors of likely compliance with mass antimicrobial prophylaxis. These findings underscore the importance of communicating the rationale of public health intervention efforts to physicians in order to help ensure their success.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Development of an instrument to measure strategic and clinical quality indicators in postoperative pain management.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To develop and evaluate psychometric properties, that is reliability and validity, of an instrument to measure strategic and clinical quality indicators in postoperative pain management. BACKGROUND: Strategic and clinical quality indicators in postoperative pain management were previously developed from a tentative model of important aspects of surgical nursing care and assessed to have content validity, that is to be essential for the quality of care, realistic to carry out and possible for nurses to use to influence management. METHODS: The quality indicators were converted to items suitable for a patient questionnaire and were scored on a 5-point scale, with higher scores indicating higher quality of care. Inpatients from five surgical wards took part in this study on their second postoperative day. The response rate was 96% and the average ages of the female (n=120) and the male (n=78) respondents were 62 and 63 years, respectively. RESULTS: Items in the total scale had an average inter-item correlation >0.20 and an item-total correlation >0.30. Cronbach's coefficient alpha was 0.84 for the total scale. Four factors entitled 'communication', 'action', 'trust' and 'environment' emerged from an orthogonal factor analysis, with a cumulative variance of 61.4%. Patients who received epidural analgesia had higher scores on the total scale compared with those who did not receive epidural analgesia. Patients who reported more pain than expected had lower scores on the total scale compared with those who did not report more pain than expected. Correlation between the total scale and an overall pain relief satisfaction question was 0.53. CONCLUSION: The results suggest initial support for the new instrument as a measure of strategic and clinical quality indicators in postoperative pain management, but it must be further refined, tested and evaluated.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Types of patients in a psychiatric intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: This paper reports the findings of a descriptive study of a patient population over a three-month period on an eight bed psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Western Australia. The report provides a quantitative insight into the profile of patients in PICUs. It provides information on patients' diagnoses, presenting signs, symptoms and/or behaviours, legal codes assigned to patients, treatment interventions and management. METHOD: Data were collected prospectively from August to October 1999. A total of 122 patients were admitted to the PICU during the review period. Data were entered into an Access program then exported to SPSS (Version 9 for Windows) for analysis and frequency distributions were obtained. RESULTS: The results confirmed that the majority of patients admitted to the PICU were assessed as a high level of risk or needed containment. This finding is in line with the admission criteria developed by staff working in the PICU. It also supports the view that staff working in these units require expertise and confidence to communicate with and manage potentially aggressive and highly aroused patients. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the importance of ongoing evaluations of patient populations in promoting best practice initiatives in psychiatric care.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Development of scales to measure satisfaction and preferences regarding long-term and terminal care.

This report describes efforts to develop and test scales for measuring attitudes toward the medical care of chronically and terminally ill patients and their families. The following satisfaction scales were developed: General Satisfaction, Availability of Care, Continuity of Care, Physician Availability, Physician Competence, Personal Qualities of Physician, Communication with Physician, Involvement of Patient and Family in Treatment Decisions, Freedom from Pain, and Pain Control. Preference scales were developed to measure preference for home care and preference for physician decisions. These scales were tested in two independent study samples: Home Care Study subjects--patients and their caretakers enrolled in a trial to evaluate a new method of home care for chronically and terminally ill homebound patients; and Terminal Care Study subjects--surviving relatives of a random sample of cancer patients who died. The internal consistency, discriminant validity, and convergent validity of each scale were assessed by means of item-total correlations, Cronbach 's alpha, and comparison with other questionnaire items. The results supported the use of several scales in their original form. Recommendations are made for appropriate modifications in the remaining scales.

Attitude↗
PubMed2006

Factors relating to depression after stroke.

OBJECTIVES: Depression is common after stroke and can impede rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to determine which factors predicted the severity of depression at the time of recruitment to a treatment study and depression 6 months later. DESIGN: A questionnaire-based longitudinal study. METHODS: A total of 123 depressed stroke patients who were between 1 and 6 months post-stroke and had mild to moderate disabilities were recruited to a randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioural psychotherapy (CBT) to treat depression (Lincoln & Flannaghan, 2003). At recruitment and at 6 months follow-up, patients (N=112) were assessed on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), Wakefield Depression Inventory (WDI), Barthel index, Extended activities of daily living scale (EADL), Sheffield Screening Test for Acquired Language Disorders (SST) and Recovery locus of control scale (RLOC). RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that greater communication impairment on the SST at recruitment was predictive of severe depression on the BDI at recruitment (OR=0.72, p=.01). Patients with greater communication impairment (OR=0.69, p<.05) and a more external locus of control (OR=0.89, p<.05) at recruitment were more likely to remain depressed at follow-up. Patients who remained depressed at follow-up were more severely depressed at recruitment (p=.001). CONCLUSIONS: Locus of control and communication impairment were related to depression. Communication impairment was the strongest predictor of depression severity and prognosis. Mild depression was more likely to resolve. The regression models only accounted for a small proportion of the variance in depression scores. Therefore, further studies of psychosocial factors in a more representative sample are required.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Plication darn for the repair of inguinal hernia. A university hospital experience.

OBJECTIVE: Recurrence rate in inguinal hernia repair is the main concern of both the surgeon and patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome in patients undergoing open inguinal hernia repair by using muscle fascial plication and nylon darn. METHODS: This technique was performed in 2 University hospitals within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital and King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, for a period of 23 years, October 1978 through to October 2001, on a total of 600 patients. RESULTS: The total number of patients was 654 these were all male. The same repair was performed in elective cases, in acute emergency and for both direct and indirect inguinal hernia. Patients suffering from chronic cough are referred to a pulmonologist for treatment before surgery. Follow-up was for a period of 10 years thereafter by phone communication. Fifty-four patients were excluded from the study as they failed to attend for follow up after the 3rd year. Six hundred patients underwent 619 repairs. Post operative pain was controlled by pethidine in the first 24-hours, thereafter by paracetamol tablets. Patients were advised to return to normal activity after 3/52. No heavy weight lifting before 3-4 months. Recurrence occurred in one case. CONCLUSION: Muscle fascial plication combined with nylon darn is a good operation for the repair of inguinal hernia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Physicians' perceptions of relevant prescription drug costs: do costs to the individual patient or to the population matter most?

OBJECTIVES: Physicians may be aware of at least 2 types of costs when prescribing: patient's out-of-pocket costs and the actual costs of the medication. We evaluated physicians' perceptions about relevant costs for prescription drugs and the importance of communication about these costs. STUDY DESIGN: Mailed survey to a random sample of 1200 physician members of the California Medical Association, and a phone survey of a sample of nonresponders. METHODS: Descriptive statistics of survey items, McNemar's test to compare survey item responses, and logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between physician, practice, and system variables and physicians' perceptions of relevant medication costs. RESULTS: Of respondents with correct addresses, 49.6% responded to the survey; 13% of nonresponders were contacted by phone. Approximately 91% and 80% of physicians reported that it is important to manage patients' out-of-pocket costs and total medication costs, respectively. When comparing the relative importance of managing the 2 types of costs, 59% of physicians agreed that managing patients' out-of-pocket costs was more important than managing the total medication costs and only 16% disagreed. Physicians believed it was more important to discuss out-of-pocket costs than total costs with patients (P < .0001), but only 15% of physicians reported discussing out-of-pocket costs frequently and 5% reported talking about total medication costs frequently. Physicians who managed more Medicare patients had a greater likelihood than physicians managing fewer Medicare patients of prioritizing out-of-pocket cost rather than total cost management (P = .038), and generalists had a greater likelihood than medical subspecialists (P = .046). CONCLUSIONS: Physicians prioritize managing out-of-pocket costs over total medication costs. Pharmacy benefit designs that use patient out-of-pocket cost incentives to influence utilization are addressing the costs to which physicians may be most responsive. When physicians face conflicts between managing patients' out-of-pocket costs and total costs, they will likely try to protect the patients' resources at the expense of the insurer or society. Efforts to align patients', insurers', and societies' incentives will simplify prescribing decisions and result in better value in prescribing.

Adult↗