United States

Background
The biopsychosocial model suggests that health outcomes are determined by the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors. Within this framework, health follows a social gradient, in which socioeconomic status has a direct impact on health outcomes. In the United States, each group on the social ladder has better health than the group below it. These patterns of inequity are manifested through differential access to resources, including housing, education, and healthcare. 

In order to reduce these health disparities, the Upstate Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) was developed as an integrated, upstream approach to improve health outcomes for marginalized populations throughout Upstate South Carolina. More specifically, through a collaboration between Furman University, Prisma Health Upstate, and South Carolina Legal Services, the Upstate MLP coordinates and streamlines access to non-medical assistance when a medical problem is caused or exacerbated by a social or legal problem. The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore the impact of the MLP on health and quality of life for pediatric clients and their families. 

Methods
This study utilized the WHO social determinants of health (SDoH) framework to develop an interview guide. The interview guide assessed the effect of the MLP on health status, health access, and other SDoH domains. The MLP team interviewed 18 caregivers of pediatric patients who were referred to the MLP for assistance. Data analysis was conducted using the qualitative coding software NVivo using a grounded theory approach to understand the impact of MLP intervention on the health and well-being of pediatric clients and their families. 

Results
Prior to receiving MLP assistance, the caretakers reported three main areas of stress: difficulty balancing work and childcare, challenges adhering to treatment programs, and inhibited overall family functioning. However, by securing additional financial resources (SSI, Medicaid, TANF), facilitating custody proceedings, and providing social support for these families, the MLP was able to reduce the amount of stress perceived by these caregivers. Several downstream effects of this reduced caregiver stress were identified. Caregivers reported improved treatment compliance for themselves and their children, improved ability to balance work and childcare, and improved overall family functioning. 

Conclusion
Medical Legal Partnerships have the potential to improve health outcomes for caregivers and their children by securing economic resources, finalizing custody arrangements, and providing social support. The study demonstrated that MLP intervention allowed caregivers to have increased treatment compliance and improved family functioning, which has positive health implications for the pediatric clients and their caregivers.


AMA Research Challenge 2023

Downstream Impacts of the Upstate Medical Legal Partnership: How Embedding Lawyers in Hospitals Can Be Used to Tackle the Social Determinants of Health

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Background
8.3 percent of Americans do not have health insurance. Even for the 91.7 percent of patients with insurance, many surgical procedures are not covered, or are only partially covered by insurance. Previous studies have found that privately insured patients undergo elective hand surgeries in the 4th fiscal quarter at a significantly greater rate than publicly insured patients. This suggests that surgical decision making and timing may be subject to similar forces to those that govern consumer spending. 

It has been shown that rates of cosmetic surgery are positively correlated with US GDP, while rates of reconstructive surgery are not. Thus, surgeries may be differentially affected by personal finance.

Here we investigate the association between economics and surgical procedure utilization while attempting to understand how surgical procedures are differentially affected by the United States economy.

Methods
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project net data were reviewed from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2014, to collect hospital inpatient data for nine groups of surgical procedures: angioplasty, appendectomy, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), cesarean delivery, cholecystectomy, fracture repair, joint arthroplasty, hysterectomy, and oophorectomy. Procedures that did not require prior authorization by Medicare were deemed non-elective, while procedures that did were deemed elective.

Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics v29. Year-over-year average percent change in procedure utilization was calculated and plotted over time. Bivariate correlations were made for individual procedures with US GDP and Real Disposable Personal Income data.

Results
During the period studied 51,172,734 procedures were performed. For non-elective procedures, the largest year-over-year decrease of 7.82% occurred in 2010. For elective procedures, the largest year-over-year decrease of 4.10% occurred in 2011.

Cesarean delivery (r=0.584, 0.603), hip arthroplasty (r=0.968, 0.955), and knee arthroplasty (r=0.975, 0.981) were significantly positively correlated with US GDP and Real Disposable Personal Income, respectively. Angioplasty (r=-0.781, -0.778), appendectomy (r=-0.957, -0.958), CABG (r=-0.954, -0.956), cholecystectomy (r=-0.854, -0.789), hysterectomy (r=-0.948, -0.932), and oophorectomy (r=-0.972, -0.966) were significantly negatively correlated with US GDP and Real Disposable Personal Income, respectively. Surgical fracture repair was significantly correlated with neither US GDP nor Real Disposable Personal Income.

Conclusion
Qualitatively there was no difference in the year-over-year average percent change in surgical procedure utilization for elective versus non-elective surgeries. Three distinct groups of procedures were identified based on their negative, positive, or lack of correlation with the United States economy. Taken together, our findings suggest that the strength of the United States economy has a nuanced, non-negligible, impact on surgical procedure utilization.


Impact of United States Economic Strength on Surgical Procedure Utilization

Background : Worldwide studies show an increasing trend of sleep disorders in recent times. We aimed to assess the association of epidemiology and socio-demographic disparities of organic sleep disorders (OSDs) using the National Inpatient Sample Database in the US population.

Methods : A retrospective study of the NIS (2016-2018) using the ICD-10-CM codes was performed. Hospitalizations with the diagnosis of OSDs (REM sleep behavior disorder, parasomnia, circadian rhythm, insomnia, hypersomnia, and narcolepsy) were identified. Weighted analysis was performed using an unpaired t-test & chi-square test. Mix effect multivariate regression analysis was performed to evaluate epidemiology & demographic disparities associated with OSDs.

Results : Out of 87,761,798 hospitalizations, 2,128,329 (2.43%) had organic sleep disorders. Amongst OSDs, prevalence of insomnia-2.32%, REM sleep behavior disorder-0.1%, parasomnia-0.1%, circadian rhythm-0.1%, hypersomnia-0.04%, and narcolepsy-0.06%. Population with OSDs was older (60 vs 58 years) and OSDs were higher in the age group 50-75 years (2.8% vs >75 years: 2.38% vs 18-50 years: 1.98%), male (2.53% vs female: 2.35%), White race (2.74% vs Native American: 2.06% vs Black: 1.83% vs Hispanic: 1.69%) and median household income of 76-100th percentile (2.61% vs 0-25th: 2.26%). Prevalence of hypertension (61.48% vs 55.58%), obesity (17.00% vs 15.77%), drug abuse (13.80% vs 6.70%), alcohol dependence (10.50% vs 5.81%), smoking (22.57% vs 16.10%) and AIDS (10.79% vs 6.03%) was higher amongst OSDs than no OSDs (p<.0001). In regression analysis, we found patients with age 50-75 years (aOR 1.08, 95%CI 1.06-1.10), female (1.05, 1.04-1.05), median income 76-100 percentile (1.10, 1.09-1.11), hypertension (1.18, 1.17-1.19), dyslipidemia (1.27, 1.26-1.28), obesity (1.09, 1.08-1.1) and AIDS (1.88, 1.86-1.9) had significantly higher odds of OSDs.

Conclusion : We identified a higher prevalence of OSD in the male, white, and high socioeconomic status population with insomnia being the most common type. Early identification and risk mitigation are essential to reduce the burden of ODSs. Our study is confounded by the absence of severity, outcomes of disease, causality, and long term follow up of patients

Epidemiology And Socio-demographic Disparities Associated With Organic Sleep Disorders Among USA Hospitalizations - A National Estimate

Background: While the impact of social and environmental exposure on cardiovascular risks is often reported individually, the combined effect is poorly understood. 
Objectives: We aim to study the association between a combination of social and environmental determinants of health and the incremental impact of environmental factors on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk factors prevalence.
Methods: Utilizing the 2022 Environmental Justice Index (EJI), socio-environmental EJI ranks were divided into quartiles, Q1-Q4 (Q1: the least, Q4: the most vulnerable census tracts). Age-adjusted rate ratios (RR) of health measures reported in the Prevention Population-Level Analysis and Community Estimates (PLACES) data were compared between quartiles using multivariable Poisson regression. A second regression model was used to assess the independent effect of environmental burden and social vulnerability. 
Results: The prevalence of CVD and other adverse health measures increased with EJI and EBM quartiles. Q4-EJI was associated with a higher rate of coronary artery disease (CAD) (RR: 1.684, 95%CI: .660-1.708, p<0.001) and stroke (RR: 2.112, 95%CI:2.078-2.147, p<0.001) compared with Q1-EJI. Similarly, the risk of CAD (RR:1.143, 95% CI:1.127–1.159, p<0.001) and stroke (RR:1.118, 95% CI:1.102-1.135, p<0.001) was significantly higher in Q4 than in Q1-EBM. Similar results were observed for chronic kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, lack of health insurance, sleep < 7 hours, no leisure time physical activity, and impaired mental and physical health > 14 days.
Conclusion: The prevalence of CVD and its risk factors is higher in areas with increased social and environmental adversities, and environmental exposure plays an important role independent of social factors.

The Impact of Environmental Injustice on Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors in the United States

Background
Socioeconomic status (SES) is an essential predictor for healthcare outcomes, including dermatological health. With marginalized Black and Hispanic communities disproportionately overrepresenting the population in poverty in the 2022 Census, their ability to afford quality care and attain access to dermatologists for routine skin cancer screenings remain unresolved health equity issues. With the lack of research on dermatologic malignancies and contributing disparities affecting minority populations, it is essential to understand the grave impacts of SES on this population. This literature review explores the financial restraints of underserved communities and the effects of not being able to afford skin cancer screening.

Methods
An exhaustive literature review was conducted, utilizing Still OneSearch, DynaMed, Google Scholar, PubMed, MEDLINE, and National Institutes of Health online databases. The search strategy included the keywords “socioeconomic status”, “poverty”, “skin cancer screening”, and “underserved or marginalized” to discover related articles. Filters for peer-reviewed sources with publication dates between 2018 - 2023 were applied, further narrowing the results. Once studies of interest were selected, pertinent components were referenced following AMA format.

Results 
Individuals with low SES are less likely to attain specialized dermatological care due to financial strain, lack of insurance coverage, and decreased accessibility. Other contributing factors include the absence of affordable transportation and job inflexibility to attend appointments. Due to these economic challenges preventing early skin cancer detection, patients are frequently diagnosed with thicker melanoma lesions. Patients with limited income, having Medicaid or Medicare insurance rather than private insurance, are more often diagnosed with advanced malignant lesions with inferior prognoses. In a cross-sectional review of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 20.34% (95% Cl 18.97–21.71%) of skin cancer patients reported worrying about medical costs, and 51.41% of uninsured patients expressed additional concerns regarding housing. In a 2018 study, 42.4% of patients with malignant skin lesions had depleted their life savings within the first two years of their diagnoses. Besides economic burden, patients with financial stress had lower odds of following up with their specialist or participating in clinical trials. Patients making annually less than USD 50,000 were 32% less likely than those with higher incomes to enroll in clinical trials. 

Conclusion
Patients from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds habitually suffer disproportionate dermatological outcomes compared to their affluent counterparts. Recognizing the impacts of socioeconomic status on skin health and screening will have countless effects on healthcare advocacy and potentially influence policy change, making dermatologic care more accessible and equitable.

Beyond the Margins: Examining the Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Skin Cancer Screening in Marginalized Communities

Background
While prehospital drug-assisted airway management utilizing both a sedative agent and neuromuscular blocking agent (NMBA) has been well studied, sedative-assisted intubation (SAI) without concurrent NMBA use has not been studied at the national level. Further, we have been unable to identify any prehospital SAI studies focusing on ketamine. This study’s purpose is to analyze SAI practices by emergency medical services (EMS) across the United States and understand ketamine’s role.

Methods
Using the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) 2021 dataset, we included adult patients who received either ketamine, a benzodiazepine (midazolam, lorazepam, or diazepam), etomidate, or a benzodiazepine-etomidate combination to facilitate SAI. We excluded patients who experienced cardiac arrest prior to any intubation attempts. Primary outcome measures were first-pass intubation success, overall intubation success, and the incidence of post-intubation complications. Using multivariate logistic regression to account for significant baseline measures, we calculated the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of intubation success for each induction agent. 

Results
Of the 4,128 eligible patients, 1,170 underwent SAI using ketamine. The overall intubation success rate using ketamine was 75.47% (884/1,171) and not significantly different compared to the other three sedative agents, with lower success rates compared to etomidate (1,177/1,517, 77.59%, P=.21) and a benzodiazepine-etomidate combination (361/453, 79.69%, P=.08), and greater success compared to benzodiazepines (709/988, 71.76%, P=.06). Compared to the other sedative agents, ketamine had significantly greater incidences of hypoxemia (oxygen saturation less than 90%) (n=416, P<.001), hypotension (systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg) (n=337, P<.001), hypocarbia (n=592, P<.001), and cardiac arrest (n=61, P<.001). In multivariate logistic regression using benzodiazepines as the intercept, ketamine was not associated with greater first-pass success (OR 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.85-1.24) or overall intubation success (OR 1.17; 95% CI 0.95-1.43).

Conclusion
Compared to other induction agents, ketamine in SAI was not associated with greater intubation success and was associated with a greater incidence of complications. Further investigation is needed to delineate SAI practices in paramedic systems with and without NMBAs, as well as to examine how EMS choice of induction agent may vary amongst different patient subgroups.

The use of ketamine for prehospital sedative-assisted intubation

Background
Rural EMS agencies have long struggled to financially maintain operations because of low call volumes and higher operating costs, and closures have only increased as higher portions of the rural population are uninsured or covered under Medicare and Medicaid. Similarly, community health workers (CHWs) do not have enough volume in rural areas to be financially sustainable. Community paramedicine (CP) models, which combine elements of EMS and CHWs, have demonstrated remarkable success in improving care and reducing costs. However, these models have had limited uptake in rural areas due to reimbursement and regulatory challenges and the models’ emphasis on paramedics rather than inexpensive emergency medical technicians-basic (EMT-Bs) or advanced emergency medical technicians (AEMTs).

Methods
We conducted a narrative literature review to assess the feasibility of dual-certifying EMT-Bs and AEMTs as CHWs to improve the financial sustainability of rural EMS agencies and improve healthcare access. We used Pubmed to search for both original articles and reviews on rural CP, and Google was used to identify gray literature relating to the regulatory, financial, and governance structures of CP and CHWs. Both scholarly and gray literature were only included if they included studies in the USA and were within the last 10 years. 

Results
The scope of practice and training of CP programs varied widely, but most programs involved care coordination, health assessments, health education and promotion, and prevention of ED visits and rehospitalizations. EMT-Bs and AEMTs are in 29% and 10% of CP programs, respectively, even though the majority of rural EMS personnel are non-paramedics. Five states provide Medicaid reimbursement specifically for CP services, and fourteen states provide EMS reimbursement for treatment without transport, but not specifically CP services. Medicare only pays for some CP services under the experimental ET3 model. Conversely, at least 29 state Medicaid agencies reimburse for CHW services, and 21 states have CHW certification programs with another 14 states currently developing them. Medicare also pays for CHW services as of 2021. 

Conclusion
Training rural EMT-Bs/AEMTs to become certified CHWs may be a viable method of increasing EMS agencies’ income by increasing their reimbursable patient encounters in states that reimburse CHWs. This would enable rural EMS providers to avoid the regulatory and reimbursement challenges of other CP programs while increasing the financial sustainability of their agency. While the CHW and EMT-B scopes of practice will limit the extent of care they can provide more than paramedic-based programs, they could significantly expand rural access to both EMS and CHW services with appropriate physician oversight.

Rethinking EMS in the Fight for Rural Health Equity

**Scoring is only possible in the semifinals hall**

**Abstract:**



Depression and Anxiety - Diagnosis and Management in Primary Care:
Alternate Therapy Modalities: A Review

Background: About half of Minneapolis VA patients reside in rural areas, receiving their primary care at a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC). Although some CBOC’s are over 200 miles away, patients must travel to the Twin Cities for surgical services. 

Methods: The 167 consecutive patients who opted for telehealth postoperative visits were surveyed. Data collected included travel time and distance to the Minneapolis VA and their local CBOC, need for transportation assistance to the clinic/VA, complications as a result of telehealth and a 1-10 overall satisfaction score. 

Results: Respondents reported a mean + SD satisfaction score of 9.60 ± 1.20, with a mean cost savings of $51.94 ± $40.92, decrease in travel time of 99.4 ± 76.58 minutes and no post-surgical complications missed. 

Conclusions: The telehealth program appears to be safe, saves time and money for veterans and results in extremely high patient satisfaction.


Efficacy of Telehealth for Postoperative Visits at the Minneapolis VA

Robotic assisted surgery (RAS) is a form of minimally invasive surgery. During RAS, surgical instruments are connected to a robotic system that is controlled by a surgeon located at an isolated console. Although RAS has advantages such as faster recovery times and less post-operative pain for patients, there are challenges that the technology brings to the operating room such as changes in workflow and space constraints. Therefore, we sought to understand expert perspectives on current and future challenges of surgical team members during the use of RAS. This study aims to identify expert perceptions of RAS for potential future opportunities and improvements for RAS workflow. In-person observations were conducted to learn more about the overall process and workflow of RAS. Focus groups were conducted with eleven surgical techs, eight circulating nurses, and two medical administrations. The focus group questions were used for insights on staff demographics, RAS experience between different hospitals, built environments, training, and interactions. These results were then used to perform a thematic analysis, and the following themes emerged: training, usability, communication, environment, management, and scheduling. These themes were further broken down into subthemes. Definitions and quotes were used to help define each subtheme. Further thematic analysis needs to be conducted to gain additional perspectives from other RAS operating room team members.

Integrating Expert Perspectives On Current and Future Challenges for Robotic Assisted Surgery (RAS) Workflow

Introduction-
The internet has become a prominent tool for patients, with an estimated 80% of Americans having turned to the internet for health information. The Literacy Project proports that over half of Americans would struggle to read a book written beyond an 8th grade reading level. Studies have found association between poor patient understanding and worse outcomes and decreased patient satisfaction.

To combat these issues related to the readability of patient education materials, The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends patient health information be written at a 6th grade reading level. Previous studies into the readability of online patient information on a wide variety of topics have revealed much online patient education materials surpass this recommendation. With one recent study of the readability of online patient information on the topic of appendectomies was 12th-14th grade, well beyond the abilities of the average American reader and AMA recommendations. 

Because caring for a surgical wound is a prolonged process and often involves at home care, online resources on this topic may particularly useful to patients. Despite this, investigations into the readability of these sources are lacking. This study provides formal assessment of the current state of the readability of online patient education materials on the topic of surgical wound care.

Methods-
A google search for “surgical wound care” was done with a cleared browser. The first 30 results to meet criteria were analyzed. Advertisements, audiovisual resources, and scientific/professional articles were excluded.

The analysis tool readable.com was used to obtain Flesch Kincaid Grade Level Scores and Gunning Fog Index Scores (measures of grade level required to read) as well as Flesch Reading Ease Scores (measure of general ease of read). Average scores with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to compare to recommended reading levels. Associations between readaility and source were also explored.

Results-
Average Flesch Kincaid Grade Level Score was 6.8 95% CI [6.1, 7.5] and average Gunning Fog Index Score was 8.9 95% CI [8.1, 9.7]. The average Flesch Reading Ease Score was 65.3 95% CI [60.9, 69.7], with scores over 60 indicating overall easy readability. Only 10% (3/30) Flesch Reading Ease Score were above 80. (12/30) met AMA recommendations by Flesch Kincaid grade scores, but none met AMA recommendations by Gunning Fog Index Score. 

Information sources could be categorized as; health information websites, government affiliated organizations, hospitals/health systems, private clinics, and others (ie- insurance company). These categorizations aren’t completely mutually exclusive.

There was no statistical difference in scores between organizations with/without government affiliation. 

Conclusions-
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level Scores indicated nearly half (12/30) met AMA criteria, but Flesch Reading Ease Scores and Gunning Fox Grade Level Scores indicated 3/30 and 0/30 met AMA guidelines, respectively. While this is considerable variance, it resulted from a difference of only 2.1 grade levels between average scores of the different grade level calculation methods. Additionally, half of all materials were still within 2.3 grade levels of AMA recommendations based on Gunning Fox Grade Level Scores. Taken together, this likely indicates that there is a proportion of patient information materials that meet AMA guidelines, but the majority still do not meet AMA recommendations and a significant number of people would likely have some trouble with them. 

While there is inherent complexity to medical topics, there are many simple ways to improve the readability of any writing. These include things like removing unnecessary words and breaking up longer sentences. Given the large number of patient education materials within a couple grade levels of the AMA guideline, simple modifications to writing techniques like these may bring a significant proportion into compliance.


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Impact of United States Economic Strength on Surgical Procedure Utilization

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