Journal of health care for the poor and underserved
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J Health Care Poor Underserved · May 2012
Pain characteristics and pain catastrophizing in incarcerated women with chronic pain.
Chronic pain in incarcerated women is understudied and poorly described. Study objectives were to describe pain characteristics, correlates, and predictors in a convenience sample of incarcerated women with chronic pain. A survey packet that included the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI-SF) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) was distributed to all inmates at a state prison for women. ⋯ Pain catastrophizing was found to predict average pain intensity and level of pain-related interference in functioning. Pain catastrophizing is treatable with behavioral intervention in the general population. Findings suggest that pain catastrophizing may be an important target for research and treatment in incarcerated women with chronic pain.
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J Health Care Poor Underserved · Feb 2012
Pay-for-performance programs to reduce racial/ethnic disparities: what might different designs achieve?
Pay-for-performance (P4P) programs may have unintended effects on racial/ethnic disparities. We used patient-level quality scores from the Hospital Quality Alliance and ranked hospitals by overall quality and by racial/ethnic disparities. ⋯ These results suggest that many hospitals treat Whites and minorities equitably. Nevertheless, in order to maximize both improvements in quality and reductions in national disparities, P4P programs should consider an approach that considers both overall quality and reductions in disparities when setting incentives.
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J Health Care Poor Underserved · May 2011
Medicare's policy to limit payment for hospital-acquired conditions: the impact on safety net providers.
In 2008, Medicare implemented a policy limiting reimbursement to hospitals for treating avoidable hospital-acquired conditions (HACs). Although the policy will expand nationally to Medicaid programs in 2011, little is known about the impact on safety-net hospitals. ⋯ Hospitals in the lowest quintile for financial margins had higher rates of HACs on average than other hospitals. Safety-net hospitals and hospitals with the lowest financial margins may be more likely than others to be affected by policies that reduce payment for HACs.
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The impact of social and economic determinants of health status and the existence of racial and ethnic health care access disparities have been well-documented. This paper describes a model, the Health Care Access Barriers Model (HCAB), which provides a taxonomy and practical framework for the classification, analysis and reporting of those modifiable health care access barriers that are associated with health care disparities. ⋯ These barriers are associated with screening, late presentation to care, and lack of treatment, which in turn result in poor health outcomes and health disparities. By targeting those barriers that are measurable and modifiable the model facilitates root-cause analysis and intervention design.