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. 2019 Sep-Oct;32(5):739-745.
doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2019.05.190026.

Visit Entropy Associated with Diabetic Control Outcomes

Benjamin T Dilger  1 , Margaret C Gill  1 , Jill G Lenhart  1 , Gregory M Garrison  2
Affiliations

Visit Entropy Associated with Diabetic Control Outcomes

Benjamin T Dilger et al. J Am Board Fam Med. 2019 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Background: Chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes place a large burden on the health care system and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. A team-based multidisciplinary approach that organizes care to improve chronic disease management may actually decrease traditional continuity of care metrics. Visit entropy (VE) provides a novel measure of care organization produced by team-based approaches. Higher VE, reflecting more disorganized care, has been associated with more hospital readmissions. We hypothesized that higher VE was also associated with reduced adherence to the D5 quality criteria.

Methods: A retrospective study of 6590 adult diabetic patients in 5 established medical home practices was conducted. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine if VE was associated with the dependent variable of D5 control. Separate models for usual provider continuity, continuity of care index, and sequence continuity were also constructed.

Results: Less organized care with a higher VE was associated with decreased odds of D5 control (odds ratio = 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.80 to 0.97). The other continuity measures were not significant. Age, education level, and initial HgA1c were significant covariates, but sex, race, endocrine consults, and Charlson comorbidity were not significant. The Number Needed to be Exposed to more organized care to produce 1 more controlled diabetic was 32.5.

Conclusions: More organized care reflected by a lower VE is associated with improved odds of D5 diabetic control. VE represents a better measure of care organization in team-based medical home environments than traditional continuity of care metrics.

Keywords: Chronic Disease; Continuity of Patient Care; Entropy; Patient-Centered Care; Primary Health Care; Retrospective Studies; Telephone; Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: none declared.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Factors Associated with Diabetic D5 Control NOTE: The other continuity measures (UPC, COC, and SECON) showed non-significant odds ratios that crossed 1.0 when run in separate models.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Distribution of Continuity Measures
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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