Pulmonary embolism (PE) is traditionally treated in hospital. Growing evidence from non randomized prospective studies suggests that a substantial proportion of patients with non-massive PE might be safely treated in the outpatient setting using low molecular weight heparins. Based on this evidence, professional societies started to recommend outpatient care for selected patients with non-massi...

Beginning in 1984, the long-term trend of increasing utilization of inpatient hospital care by Medicare enrollees reversed. As Medicare patients increasingly received care in outpatient hospital facilities, ambulatory surgical centers, and physicians' offices, the structure of charges for physicians' services changed significantly. Medical services by physicians in inpatient hospitals declined ...

PURPOSE To estimate patient- and episode-level direct costs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among commercially insured patients in the US. METHODS In this retrospective claims-based analysis, commercial enrollees with evidence of COPD were grouped into five mutually exclusive cohorts based on the most intensive level of COPD-related care they received in 2006, ie, outpatient, ...

BACKGROUND Estimates of the relative contributions of physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and nurse practitioners (NPs) toward rural primary care are needed to inform workforce planning activities aimed at reducing rural primary shortages. OBJECTIVES For each provider group, this study quantifies the average weekly number of outpatient primary care visits and the types of services provide...