Abstract TP33: Statewide Trends in Utilization of Endovascular Treatment and Outcomes: Analysis of Minnesota Hospital Association Data (2014 and 2015)

Background: There is emphasis on understanding the implementation of clinical trial results for clinical practice. The aim of this study is to examine the changes in endovascular procedures utilization after the publication of the recent clinical trials showing benefit of such procedures in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods: Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) database was used to calculate the state wide utilization rates for two periods: prior to (January 1st-December 31st, 2014) and after (January 1 st -December 31 st , 2015) publication of randomized clinical trials. MHA collects data from 137 member hospitals for monitoring and reporting healthcare quality and cost across the state. Patients with admitting diagnosis of AIS and those who received endovascular treatment were identified using ICD9 or ICD10 codes. Utilization rates for endovascular treatment were calculated monthly, quarterly, and annually. Discharge to home was considered as the measure of none to minimal disability. Results: Of the 13,043 patients admitted with the diagnosis of AIS, 434 patients (mean age 68.5± 25.5 years; 51.2% women) received endovascular treatment. The number of procedures increased from 194 in 2014 to 240 in 2015. Utilization rate was 3.4% in the first quarter of 2014, gradually declined to reach its lowest value (2.6%) in the last quarter of 2014, then steadily increased to reach its peak (4%) in the last quarter of 2015. Procedures performed at comprehensive stroke centers increased from 52% of total procedures in 2014 to 57.5% in 2015 while those performed at primary stroke centers decreased from 22.6% in 2014 to 19.5% in 2015. In 2015, fewer patients had hypertension (50.4% vs. 60.3%; p=0.039) and more patients had chronic kidney disease (28.3% vs. 15.5%; p=0.001). Intracranial hemorrhage and mortality rates were not significantly different between the two years. There was a trend towards higher rate of minimal or no disability at discharge among patients treated in 2015 compared with those treated in 2014 (22.5% versus 18.1%, p=0.25). Conclusion: We observed a state wide increase in rate of utilization of endovascular treatment of AIS patients coinciding with the publication of the results of new clinical trials.

Variable Screening and Decolonization Protocols for Staphylococcus aureus Carriage Prior to Surgical Procedures

We surveyed the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Research Network, the Minnesota Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, and the Minnesota Hospital Association to assess presurgical Staphylococcus aureus screening and decolonization practices. The practices varied widely among responding facilities. The majority of respondents (63%) did not screen for S. aureus preoperatively.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;35(7):880–882

Solid Organ Donation Between Strangers

In August 2000, Arthur Matas and his colleagues de scribed a protocol in which their institution began to accept as potential donors, individuals who came to the University of Minnesota hospital offering to donate a kidney to any patient on the waiting list. Matas and his colleagues refer to these donors as nondirected donors by which is meant that the donors are altruistic and that they give their organs to an unspecified pool of recipients with whom they have no emotional relationship. This paper represents an ethical and policy critique of the nondirected donation protocol that was implemented at the University of Minnesota in August 1999. Specifically, I address the ethical questions: Whether altruistic living solid organ donations by strangers (nondirected donations) should be permitted? And if so, What are appropriate ethical guidelines for such donations?