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Analyzing the process of caring for NSCLC patients is feasible and offers room for improvement. Acquired knowledge may be shared with hospital administrators, guide the revision of ICPs, and enable the delivery of consistent, high-quality clinical standards.

Aims To evaluate the quality of mental health care delivered to patients with schizophrenia and related disorders taken-in-care by mental health services in four Italian regions (Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Sicily). Methods Thirty-one clinical indicators concerning accessibility, appropriateness, continuity and safety were defined and estimated using healthcare utilisation (HCU) databases, containing data on mental health treatments, hospital admissions, outpatient interventions, lab tests and drug prescriptions. Results A total of 70 586 prevalent patients with schizophrenia and related disorders treated in 2015 were identified, of whom 1752 were newly taken-in-care by the facilities of regional mental health services. For most patients community care was accessible and moderately intensive. However, care pathways were not implemented based on a structured assessment and only half of the patients received psychosocial treatments. One patient out of ten had access to psychological interventions and psychoeducation. Activities specifically addressed to families involved a third of prevalent patients and less than half of new patients. One patient out of six was admitted to a community residential facility, and one out of ten to a General Hospital Psychiatric Ward (GHPW); higher values were identified in new cases. In general hospitals, few patients had a length of stay (LoS) of more than 30 days, while one-fifth of the admissions were followed by readmission within 30 days of discharge. For two-thirds of patients, continuity of community care was met, and six times out of ten a discharge from a GHPW was followed by an outpatient contact within 2 weeks. For cases newly taken-in-care, the continuity of community care was uncommon, while the readiness of outpatient contacts after discharge was slightly more frequent. Most of the patients received antipsychotic medication, but their adherence to long-term treatment was low. Antipsychotic polytherapy was frequent and the control of metabolic side effects was poor. The variability between regions was high and consistent in all the quality domains. Conclusions The Italian mental health system could be improved by increasing the accessibility to psychosocial interventions, improving the quality of care for newly taken-in-care patients, focusing on somatic health and mortality, and reducing regional variability. Clinical indicators demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the mental health system in these regions, and, as HCU databases, they could be useful tools in the routine assessment of mental healthcare quality at regional and national levels.

Purpose To measure indicators of timeliness and continuity of treatments on patients with schizophrenic disorder in ‘real-life’ practice, and to validate them through their relationship with relapse occurrences. Methods The target population was from four Italian regions overall covering 22 million beneficiaries of the NHS (37% of the entire Italian population). The cohort included 12,054 patients newly taken into care for schizophrenic disorder between January 2015 and June 2016. The self-controlled case series (SCCS) design was used to estimate the incidence rate ratio of relapse occurrences according to mental healthcare coverage. Results Poor timeliness (82% and 33% of cohort members had not yet started treatment with psychosocial interventions and antipsychotic drug therapy within the first year after they were taken into care) and continuity (27% and 23% of patients were persistent with psychosocial interventions, and antipsychotic drug therapy within the first 2 years after starting the specific treatment) were observed. According to SCCS design, 4794 relapses occurred during 9430 PY (with incidence rate of 50.8 every 100 PY). Compared with periods not covered by mental healthcare, those covered by psychosocial intervention alone, antipsychotic drugs alone and by psychosocial intervention and antipsychotic drugs together were, respectively, associated with relapse rate reductions of 28% (95% CI 4–46%), 24% (17–30%) and 44% (32–53%). Conclusion Healthcare administrative data may contribute to monitor and to assess the effectiveness of a mental health system. Persistent use of both psychosocial intervention and antipsychotic drugs reduces risk of severe relapse.

Introduction Aim of this study was to assess the impact of the introduction of new class of drugs (ARNI: angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor) on hospital related costs in a real world cohort of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods Seventy-three consecutive patients with CHF and systolic dysfunction eligible for the treatment with ARNIs from the Daunia Heart Failure Registry were enrolled. Incidence of hospitalizations before and after treatment with ARNI, costs for drug and hospitalization for HF were recorded, indexed per year and compared. Results Indexed mean number of hospitalizations per year was 0.93 ± 1.70 before and 0.19 ± 0.70 after introduction of ARNI ( p < 0.001, −80%), 2.26 ± 1.95 before and 0.38 ± 1.2 after ARNI in the subgroup of patients with at least one hospitalization for HF in the year before treatment with ARNI ( p < 0.001, −83%). Mean indexed cost for hospitalization was 2067 ± 3715 euros before and 1847 ± 1549 after ARNI (p n.s., −11%); in the subgroup with at least one hospitalization for HF 5175 ± 4345 before and 2311 ± 2308 after ARNI (p < 0.001, −55%). Cost reduction increased with the number of indexed hospitalization per year before ARNI from 11% to 66%. Conclusion In a real world scenario, treatment with ARNI is associated with lower indexed rates of hospitalizations and hospitalization related costs. Cost reduction increases with at least one indexed hospitalization for heart failure before treatment with ARNI.