The American journal of managed care
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The aim was to understand older adults' self-efficacy with insurance decision making by examining their preferences for delegating insurance decisions to others. ⋯ Most older adults preferred to make insurance decisions themselves while also wanting to receive advice, and those who preferred to delegate decisions had less Medicare knowledge. Programs that support insurance decisions among older adults should identify clients who prefer delegating decisions and have the right support available to them.
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To determine population-based estimates of medical costs attributable to venous thromboembolism (VTE) among patients currently or recently hospitalized for acute medical illness. ⋯ VTE during or after recent hospitalization for medical illness contributes a substantial economic burden.
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Polypharmacy and adverse drug events lead to considerable healthcare costs and morbidity, yet there is little to guide clinical providers in the area of discontinuing medications that may not be necessary. We sought to understand providers' beliefs and attitudes about polypharmacy and medication discontinuation. ⋯ Provider decisions to discontinue medications are affected by factors at all levels of the clinical encounter. Our findings have implications for development and implementation of interventions to improve appropriate medication discontinuation via enhanced medication reviews, enriched patient-provider communication, and better system-level structures. This, in turn, may reduce the continued prescribing of potentially inappropriate medications that can lead to adverse outcomes or increased healthcare costs.
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To test whether functional status is a robust predictor of acute care readmission risk in patients who have been discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) following a unilateral hip fracture. ⋯ Functional status is a robust and potentially modifiable risk factor for patients admitted to IRFs following a unilateral hip fracture.