Physician Consultation, Multidisciplinary Care, and 1-Year Mortality in Medicare Recipients Hospitalized with Hip and Lower Extremity Injuries

OBJECTIVE To determine whether routine surgeon consultation with medicine specialists and multidisciplinary care conferences-potentially modifiable hospital characteristics-are associated with lower 1-year mortality in older adults with hip and lower extremity injuries. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Oregon hospitals. PARTICIPANTS Two thousand five hundred thirty-eight Medicare recipients aged 67 and older hospitalized in Oregon hospitals in 2002 with hip or lower extremity injuries. MEASUREMENTS Demographic, injury, comorbidity, and survival information were gathered from Medicare records for 2000 to 2003. All Oregon hospitals with a qualifying case were surveyed using a structured telephone interview to collect information about routine surgeon consultations and multidisciplinary care conferences for older adult orthopedic patients. Multivariable generalized estimating equation models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between hospital characteristics and mortality. RESULTS After adjusting for age, injury severity, comorbid conditions, trauma center status, and hospital annual volume of patients with hip fracture, the relative odds of dying in the year after injury for inpatients treated in settings with routine surgeon consultation with medical staff was 0.69 (95% CI 0.57-0.83) compared with patients not treated in such settings. Inpatient treatment in settings with routine multidisciplinary care conferences did not significantly affect the relative odds of dying in the year after injury (OR=1.06, 95% CI=0.89-1.26). CONCLUSION Routine consultation by attending orthopedic surgeons with medicine or primary care specialists for Medicare inpatients is associated with better survival 1 year after injury.