Rhodes, Karin V
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Publication Limitations in Access to Dental and Medical Specialty Care for Publicly Insured Children(2011-06-24) Rhodes, Karin V; Bisgaier, JoannaMedicaid and the state-run Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) cover about 42 million children, many of whom would not have access to care without public insurance. Federal law requires that this access be equivalent to that of privately insured children for covered services, and many states have implemented policies to improve longstanding disparities in primary and preventive care. Reimbursement rates are up, but significant disparities remain, especially for dental and specialty services. It is important to understand the distinct effect of provider-related barriers, because they are potentially more modifiable through health policy than patient-related ones. This Issue Brief summarizes research that directly measures the willingness of dental and medical providers to see publicly-insured children, using research assistants posing as mothers calling for an urgent appointment for their child.Publication Primary Care Appointment Availability for Medicaid Patients: Comparing Traditional and Premium Assistance Plans(2016-07-14) Basseyn, Simon; Saloner, Brendan; Kenney, Genevieve M; Polsky, Daniel; Wissoker, Douglas; Rhodes, Karin VKey Findings: In 2014, Arkansas and Iowa expanded their Medicaid programs and enrolled many of their adult beneficiaries in commercial Marketplace plans. This study suggests that this “private option” may make it easier for new Medicaid patients to get primary care appointments.Publication The Future of Emergency Medicine Public Health Research(2006-11-01) Rhodes, Karin V; Pollock, Daniel AThis chapter addresses past successes and challenges and then elaborates on the potential for further advances in three areas that bridge emergency medicine and the broader public health and health services research agenda: (1) monitoring health care access; (2) surveillance of diseases, injuries, and health risks; and (3) delivering clinical preventive services. This article also suggests ways to advance policy-relevant research on systems of health and social welfare that impact the health of the public.Publication Better Health While You Wait: A Controlled Trial of a Computer-Based Intervention for Screening and Health Promotion in the Emergency Department(2001-03-01) Rhodes, Karin V; Lauderdale, Diane S; Stocking, Carol B; Howes, David S; Roizen, Michael F; Levinson, WendyStudy objective: We evaluate a computer-based intervention for screening and health promotion in the emergency department and determine its effect on patient recall of health advice. Methods: This controlled clinical trial, with alternating assignment of patients to a computer intervention (prevention group) or usual care, was conducted in a university hospital ED. The study group consisted of 542 adult patients with nonurgent conditions. The study intervention was a self-administered computer survey generating individualized health information. Outcome measures were (1) patient willingness to take a computerized health risk assessment, (2) disclosure of behavioral risk factors, (3) requests for health information, and (4) remembered health advice. Results: Eighty-nine percent (470/542) of eligible patients participated. Ninety percent were black. Eighty-five percent (210/248) of patients in the prevention group disclosed 1 or more major behavioral risk factors including current smoking (79/248; 32%), untreated hypertension (28/248; 13%), problem drinking (46/248; 19%), use of street drugs (33/248; 13%), major depression (87/248; 35%), unsafe sexual behavior (84/248; 33%), and several other injury-prone behaviors. Ninety-five percent of patients in the prevention group requested health information. On follow-up at 1 week, 62% (133/216) of the prevention group patients compared with 27% (48/180) of the control subjects remembered receiving advice on what they could do to improve their health (relative risk 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.77 to 3.01). Conclusion: Using a self-administered computer-based health risk assessment, the majority of patients in our urban ED disclosed important health risks and requested information. They were more likely than a control group to remember receiving advice on what they could do to improve their health. Computer methodology may enable physicians to use patient waiting time for health promotion and to target at-risk patients for specific interventions.Publication Nonprice Barriers to Ambulatory Care After an Emergency Department Visit(2008-05-01) Vieth, Teri L; Rhodes, Karin VStudy objective: Availability of timely follow-up care is essential in emergency medicine. We describe nonprice barriers to care experienced by callers reporting to be emergency department (ED) patients in need of follow-up care. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data collected during a survey of ambulatory clinics in 9 US cities. Research assistants called a random sample of 603 ambulatory clinics, generated from actual ED referral lists. Callers identified themselves as new patients referred by the local ED. Outcome measures were the percentage of callers experiencing failed appointment attempts for a variety of reasons and inconvenience factors associated with the appointment process: number and amount of time spent on hold, voicemail, repeated calls, and total telephone time. Results: Only 242 (23%) of 1065 total calls resulted in an appointment within one week, for an ultimate caller success rate of 40% (242/603 pseudopatient scenarios). Independent of insurance status, 43% of 603 initial calls to ED referral numbers were unsuccessful: 27% of initial call failures were due to clinic closures, busy signals, voicemail, or personnel too busy to take the call; 6% wrong numbers; 4% disconnected or extended holds; and 6% out of practice scope. If they reached clinic personnel, 55% of callers were placed on hold; average hold time was 2.43 minutes (median 1.35 minutes). Answering system time averaged 1.17 minutes (median 0.68 minutes; range 0.02 to 13.90 minutes). On average, it required 1.7 calls to reach appointment staff and 8% of clinic contacts required 4 or more attempts. Total telephone time averaged 11.1 minutes for successful appointments. Conclusion: There are important nonprice barriers to obtaining follow-up appointments for urgent conditions, independent of insurance status.Publication Click Worthy: Stories Encourage Emergency Physicians to Learn More About Opioid Prescribing Guidelines(2016-05-05) Meisel, Zachary; Metlay, Joshua P.; Sinnenberg, Lauren; Kilaru, Austin S; Barg, Frances K; Grossestreuer, Anne V; Rhodes, Karin V; Shofer, Frances S; Perrone, JeanmarieNarrative vignettes outperform standard summaries in promoting engagement with opioid prescription guidelines among a national sample of emergency physicians.Publication Characterizing Emergency Department Discussions about Depression(2007-10-01) Rhodes, Karin V; Kushner, Hallie M; Bisgaier, Joanna; Prenoveau, ElizabethBackground: The reality of emergency health care in the United States today requires new approaches to mental health in the emergency department (ED). Major depression is a disabling condition that disproportionately affects women. Objectives: To characterize ED provider–patient discussions about depression. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a database of audiotaped ED visits with women patients collected during a clinical trial of computer screening for domestic violence and other psychosocial risks. Nonemergent female patients, ages 18–65 years, were enrolled from two socioeconomically diverse academic EDs. All audio files with two or more relevant comments were identified as "significant depression discussions" and independently coded using a structured coding form. Results: Of 871 audiorecorded ED visits, 70 (8%) included discussions containing any reference to depression and 20 (2%) constituted significant depression discussions. Qualitative analysis of the 20 significant discussions found that 16 (80%) required less than 90 seconds to complete. Ten included less than optimal provider communication characteristics. Despite the brevity or quality of the communication, 15 of the 20 yielded high patient satisfaction with their ED treatment. Conclusions: ED providers rarely addressed depression. Qualitative analysis of significant patient– provider interactions regarding depression found that screening for depression in the ED can be accomplished with minimal expenditure of provider time and effort. Attention to psychosocial risk factors has the potential to improve the quality of ED care and patient satisfaction.Publication Child Injury Risks are Close to Home: Parent Psychosocial Factors Associated with Child Safety(2007-05-01) Rhodes, Karin V; Iwashyna, Theodore JObjective: In several populations, maternal depression has been associated with reduced child safety. In an urban pediatric Emergency Department, we examined the relationship between parental depression, social support, and domestic conflict and child safety behaviors. Methods: We studied consecutive patients in an Emergency Department. Trained interviewers used a structured instrument to assess patient, primary caregiver, and household demographics, socio-economic status, psychosocial factors, child safety behaviors (whether a gun was in the home, poisons were locked, a functioning smoke detector was present, and use of carseats or seatbelts), and whether the home was smoke-free. 1,116 patients provided adequate data. Results: Depression was associated with a modest and not statistically significant reduction in child safety behaviors in this population. Lack of social support and the presence of domestic conflict were robustly, independently, and statistically significantly associated with less safe homes. Domestic conflict was associated with more smoking in the home. Conclusion: In our population, child safety was associated less with depression and more with parental lack of social support and domestic conflict. These can be assessed in a Emergency Department and may be amenable to intervention.Publication Resuscitating the Physician-Patient Relationship: Emergency Department Communication in an Academic Medical Center(2004-09-01) Rhodes, Karin V; Vieth, Teri; He, Theresa; Miller, Annette; Howes, David S; Bailey, Olivia; Walter, James; Frankel, Richard; Levinson, WendyStudy objective: We characterize communication in an urban, academic medical center emergency department (ED) with regard to the timing and nature of the medical history survey and physical examination and discharge instructions. Methods: Audiotaping and coding of 93 ED encounters (62 medical history surveys and physical examinations, 31 discharges) with a convenience sample of 24 emergency medicine residents, 8 nurses, and 93 nonemergency adult patients. Results: Patients were 68% women and 84% black, with a mean age of 45 years. Emergency medicine providers were 70% men and 80% white. Of 62 medical history surveys and physical examinations, time spent on the introduction and medical history survey and physical examination averaged 7 minutes 31 seconds (range 1 to 20 minutes). Emergency medicine residents introduced themselves in only two thirds of encounters, rarely (8%) indicating their training status. Despite physician tendency (63%) to start with an open-ended question, only 20% of patients completed their presenting complaint without interruption. Average time to interruption (usually a closed question) was 12 seconds. Discharge instructions averaged 76 seconds (range 7 to 202 seconds). Information on diagnosis, expected course of illness, self-care, use of medications, time-specified follow-up, and symptoms that should prompt return to the ED were each discussed less than 65% of the time. Only 16% of patients were asked whether they had questions, and there were no instances in which the provider confirmed patient understanding of the information. Conclusion: Academic EDs present unique challenges to effective communication. In our study, the physician-patient encounter was brief and lacking in important health information. Provision of patient-centered care in academic EDs will require more provider education and significant system support.Publication Between Me and The Computer: Increased Detection of Intimate Partner Violence Using a Computer Questionnaire(2002-11-01) Rhodes, Karin V; Lauderdale, Diane S.; He, Theresa; Howes, David S; Levinson, WendyStudy objective: The emergency department is a problem-focused environment in which routine screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) is difficult. We hypothesized that screening for IPV during computer-based health-risk assessment would be acceptable to patients and improve detection. Methods: We performed a descriptive study of IPV data collected during a controlled trial of computer-based health promotion in an urban hospital ED. Patients received computer-generated health advice, and physicians received patient risk summaries. Outcomes were patient disclosure and physician documentation of IPV and associated risks. Results: Two hundred forty-eight patients (69% female, 90% black, mean age 39 years) participated in a clinical trial of computer-based health promotion in the ED. Of 170 women, 53 (33%) disclosed emotional abuse, and 25 (15%) disclosed physical abuse. Of 78 men, 22 (29%) disclosed emotional abuse, and 5 (6%) disclosed physical abuse. Patients were also willing to self-report a history or concern of hurting someone close to them. This was true for 21 (14%) women and 15 (22%) men. Controlling for demographic factors, disclosures of victimization and perpetration were associated with multiple psychosocial risks. Computer screening resulted in chart documentation in 19 of 83 potential cases of IPV compared with 1 case documented in the group that received usual care. Conclusion: Providing an opportunity for patients to confidentially self-disclose IPV has the potential to supplement current screening efforts and to allow providers to focus on assessment, counseling, and referral for those at risk. However, further measures will be needed to ensure that information gathered through computer screening is adequately addressed during the acute care or follow-up visit.