BACKGROUND: How clinical teams function varies across sites and may affect follow-up of abnormal fecal immunochemical test (FIT) results. AIMS: This study aimed to identify the characteristics of clinical practices associated with higher diagnostic colonoscopy completion after an abnormal FIT result in a multi-site integrated safety-net system. METHODS: We distributed survey questionnaires about tracking and follow-up of abnormal FIT results to primary care team members across 11 safety-net clinics from January 2017 to April 2017. Surveys were distributed at all-staff clinic meetings and electronic surveys sent to those not in attendance. Participants received up to three reminders to complete the survey. RESULTS: Of the 501 primary care team members identified, 343 (68.5%) completed the survey. In the four highest-performing clinics, nurse managers identified at least two team members who were responsible for communicating abnormal FIT results to patients. Additionally, team members used a clinic-based registry to track patients with abnormal FIT results until colonoscopy completion. Compared to higher-performing clinics, lower-performing clinics more frequently cited competing health issues (56% vs. 40%, p = 0.03) and lack of patient priority (59% vs. 37%, p < 0.01) as barriers and were also more likely to discuss abnormal results at a clinic visit (83% vs. 61%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest organized and dedicated efforts to communicate abnormal FIT results and track patients until colonoscopy completion through registries is associated with improved follow-up. Increased utilization of electronic health record platforms to coordinate communication and navigation may improve diagnostic colonoscopy rates in patients with abnormal FIT results.

Little is known about the inpatient mental health needs of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Based on existing literature, we hypothesized that undocumented patients would have fewer psychiatric admissions than documented patients. We reviewed 2019 inpatient admission data for Hispanic/Latino patients at an urban hospital. Patients were coded as undocumented or documented using insurance proxies. Multivariable logistic regression was used to report odds ratio of admission diagnoses of interest by documentation status. There were no significant differences in psychiatric admissions between undocumented patients (2.1%) and documented patients (2.8%) (p=.77). Compared with documented counterparts, undocumented patients were more likely to be admitted for alcohol-related disorders (AOR=1.59, 95%CI=1.31-1.93) but had lower proportions of admission for substance-related disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and suicide and intentional self-inflicted injury among others. Future studies should examine factors contributing to alcohol use disorder and barriers to accessing and using mental health care.

In the United States, obesity has increased in prevalence over time and is strongly associated with subsequent outcomes such as diabetes mellitus (DM) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It is unclear, however, as to how the magnitude of NAFLD risk from obesity and DM is increased in safety-net health system settings. Among the San Francisco Health Network (SFHN) patients (N = 47,211), we examined the association between Body Mass Index (BMI) and elevated liver enzyme levels, including interaction by DM status. Our findings revealed that 32.2 percent of SFHN patients were obese, and Pacific Islanders in the safety-net had the highest rates of obesity compared to other racial groups, even after using higher race-specific BMI cutoffs. In SFHN, obesity was associated with elevated liver enzymes, with the relationship stronger among those without DM. Our findings highlight how obesity is a stronger factor of NAFLD in the absence of DM, suggesting that practitioners consider screening for NAFLD among safety-net patients with obesity even if DM has not developed. These results highlight the importance of directing efforts to reduce obesity in safety-net health systems and encourage researchers to further examine effect modification between health outcomes in such populations.

Objective

To determine whether Latino undocumented immigrants had a steeper decline in Emergency Department (ED) utilization compared to Latino Medi-Cal patients in a Los Angeles safety-net hospital, March 13, 2020, to May 8, 2020.

Study design

The data were extracted from patient medical records for ED visits at LAC + USC Medical Center from January 2018 to September 2020. We analyzed weekly ED encounters among undocumented Latino patients in the nine-week period after COVID was declared a national emergency. We applied time-series routines to identify and remove autocorrelation in ED encounters before examining its relation with the COVID-19 pandemic. We included Latino patients 18 years of age and older who were either on restricted or full-scope Medi-Cal (n = 230,195).

Results

All low-income Latino patients, regardless of immigration status, experienced a significant decline in ED utilization during the first nine weeks of the pandemic. Undocumented patients, however, experienced an even steeper decline. ED visits for this group fall below expected levels between March 13, 2020, and May 8, 2020 (coef. =  - 38.67; 95% CI =  - 71.71, - 5.63). When applied to the weekly mean of ED visits, this translates to a 10% reduction below expected levels in ED visits during this time period.

Conclusion

Undocumented immigrants' health care utilization was influenced by external events that occurred early in the pandemic, such as strict stay-at-home orders and the public charge rule change. Health care institutions and local policy efforts could work to ensure that hospitals are safer spaces for undocumented immigrants to receive care without immigration concerns.

Background

Undocumented immigrants face barriers to health care access, which may have been exacerbated during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We test whether undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles County accessed COVID-19 related medical care by examining their Emergency Department (ED) patterns through high and low periods of COVID-19 infection. If undocumented immigrants were underutilizing or foregoing health care, we expect null or weaker associations between COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related ED visits relative to Medi-Cal patients.

Methods

We analyzed all ED visits to the Los Angeles County + University of Southern California (LAC + USC) Medical Center between March - December 2020 (n = 85,387). We conducted logistic regressions with Los Angeles County weekly COVID-19 case counts as our main independent variable and an interaction between case counts and immigration status, stratified by age (over and under 65 years).

Results

We found that undocumented immigrants under 65 years old had a higher odds for a COVID-19 related ED visit compared to Medi-Cal patients and that both undocumented and Medi-Cal patients had higher odds of a COVID-19 related ED visit as COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County increased. For patients over 65 years, Medi-Cal patients actually had a weaker association between ED visits and county COVID-19 counts; as COVID-19 case counts rose, the odds of a COVID-19 related ED visit increased for the undocumented patients.

Conclusion

While the overall likelihood of undocumented patients having a COVID-19 related ED visit varies compared to Medi-Cal patients - for younger patients, the odds is higher; for older patients, the odds is lower - it does not appear that undocumented patients underutilized the ED during the early COVID-19 pandemic relative to Medi-Cal patients. The ED may be a viable source of contact for this high-risk population for future outreach.

Background

How clinical teams function varies across sites and may affect follow-up of abnormal fecal immunochemical test (FIT) results.

Aims

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of clinical practices associated with higher diagnostic colonoscopy completion after an abnormal FIT result in a multi-site integrated safety-net system.

Methods

We distributed survey questionnaires about tracking and follow-up of abnormal FIT results to primary care team members across 11 safety-net clinics from January 2017 to April 2017. Surveys were distributed at all-staff clinic meetings and electronic surveys sent to those not in attendance. Participants received up to three reminders to complete the survey.

Results

Of the 501 primary care team members identified, 343 (68.5%) completed the survey. In the four highest-performing clinics, nurse managers identified at least two team members who were responsible for communicating abnormal FIT results to patients. Additionally, team members used a clinic-based registry to track patients with abnormal FIT results until colonoscopy completion. Compared to higher-performing clinics, lower-performing clinics more frequently cited competing health issues (56% vs. 40%, p = 0.03) and lack of patient priority (59% vs. 37%, p < 0.01) as barriers and were also more likely to discuss abnormal results at a clinic visit (83% vs. 61%, p < 0.01).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest organized and dedicated efforts to communicate abnormal FIT results and track patients until colonoscopy completion through registries is associated with improved follow-up. Increased utilization of electronic health record platforms to coordinate communication and navigation may improve diagnostic colonoscopy rates in patients with abnormal FIT results.

The observed water oxidation activity of the compound class Co4O4(OAc)4(Py-X)4 emanates from a Co(II) impurity. This impurity is oxidized to produce the well-known Co-OEC heterogeneous cobaltate catalyst, which is an active water oxidation catalyst. We present results from electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance line broadening analysis, and electrochemical titrations to establish the existence of the Co(II) impurity as the major source of water oxidation activity that has been reported for Co4O4 molecular cubanes. Differential electrochemical mass spectrometry is used to characterize the fate of glassy carbon at water oxidizing potentials and demonstrate that such electrode materials should be used with caution for the study of water oxidation catalysis.