Identifying Homelessness among Veterans Using VA Administrative Data: Opportunities to Expand Detection Criteria
| Autor: | Matthew H. Samore, Stephen Metraux, Jamison D. Fargo, Andrew Redd, Miland N. Palmer, Adi V. Gundlapalli, Marjorie E. Carter, Rachel Peterson |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Mental Health Services medicine.medical_specialty MEDLINE Veterans Health lcsh:Medicine Health records Cohort Studies International Classification of Diseases Health care Humans Medicine Psychiatry lcsh:Science Veterans Affairs Veterans Multidisciplinary business.industry lcsh:R Health Services medicine.disease Mental health United States humanities Substance abuse United States Department of Veterans Affairs Ill-Housed Persons Female lcsh:Q Diagnosis code business Research Article Cohort study |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 7, p e0132664 (2015) PLoS ONE |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Popis: | Researchers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have used administrative criteria to identify homelessness among U.S. Veterans. Our objective was to explore the use of these codes in VA health care facilities. We examined VA health records (2002-2012) of Veterans recently separated from the military and identified as homeless using VA conventional identification criteria (ICD-9-CM code V60.0, VA specific codes for homeless services), plus closely allied V60 codes indicating housing instability. Logistic regression analyses examined differences between Veterans who received these codes. Health care services and co-morbidities were analyzed in the 90 days post-identification of homelessness. VA conventional criteria identified 21,021 homeless Veterans from Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn (rate 2.5%). Adding allied V60 codes increased that to 31,260 (rate 3.3%). While certain demographic differences were noted, Veterans identified as homeless using conventional or allied codes were similar with regards to utilization of homeless, mental health, and substance abuse services, as well as co-morbidities. Differences were noted in the pattern of usage of homelessness-related diagnostic codes in VA facilities nation-wide. Creating an official VA case definition for homelessness, which would include additional ICD-9-CM and other administrative codes for VA homeless services, would likely allow improved identification of homeless and at-risk Veterans. This also presents an opportunity for encouraging uniformity in applying these codes in VA facilities nationwide as well as in other large health care organizations. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|