Hospital-level variation in risk-standardized admission rates for emergency care-sensitive conditions among older and younger Veterans.

OBJECTIVES

Research examining emergency department (ED) admission practices within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is limited. This study investigates facility-level variation in risk-standardized admission rates (RSARs) for emergency care-sensitive conditions (ECSCs) among older (≥65 years) and younger (<65 years) Veterans across VA EDs.

METHODS

Veterans presenting to a VA ED for an ECSC between October 1, 2016 and September 30, 2019 were identified and the 10 most common ECSCs established. ECSC-specific RSARs were calculated using hierarchical generalized linear models, adjusting for Veteran and encounter characteristics. The interquartile range ratio (IQR ratio) and coefficient of variation were measures of dispersion for each condition and were stratified by age group. Associations with facility characteristics were also examined in condition-specific multivariable models.

RESULTS

The overall cohort included 651,336 ED visits across 110 VA facilities for the 10 most common ECSCs-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, pneumonia, volume depletion, tachyarrhythmias, acute diabetes mellitus, gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, asthma, sepsis, and myocardial infarction (MI). After adjusting for case mix, the ECSCs with the greatest variation (IQR ratio, coefficient of variation) in RSARs were asthma (1.43, 32.12), COPD (1.39, 24.64), volume depletion (1.38, 23.67), and acute diabetes mellitus (1.28, 17.52), whereas those with the least variation were MI (1.01, 0.87) and sepsis (1.02, 2.41). Condition-specific RSARs were not qualitatively different between age subgroups. Association with facility characteristics varied across ECSCs and within condition-specific age subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

We identified unexplained facility-level variation in RSARs for Veterans presenting with the 10 most common ECSCs to VA EDs. The magnitude of variation did not appear to be qualitatively different between older and younger Veteran subgroups. Variation in RSARs for ECSCs may be an important target for systems-based levers to improve value in VA emergency care.