What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim was to assess how the initial care location for low back pain affects the timing and location of subsequent visits within the Veterans Health Administration.

April 13, 2026Open Access

Initiating Care for Low Back Pain in the Emergency Department of the Veterans Health Administration, Impact on the Location of Subsequent Visits

Key Points

The aim was to assess how the initial care location for low back pain affects the timing and location of subsequent visits within the Veterans Health Administration.
Utilized electronic health records from the Veterans Affairs for data collection.
Identified veterans with initial low back pain visits using ICD-10 codes after a year without such visits.
Classified the entry points into ED/urgent care, primary care, and other service lines.
Tracked the first subsequent visit location within 365 days for LBP.
Findings revealed variations in the location of subsequent care visits based on initial entry points.
Veterans who started care in the emergency department were more likely to have follow-up visits in the same or related facilities.
Logistic regression analysis highlighted significant trends in care continuity among different entry points.

Abstract

Objectives: Our study objective was to evaluate the location and timing of subsequent Veterans Health Administration care for low back pain (LBP) based on the initial clinic.Veterans can initiate care for LBP through different entry points such as primary care, emergency department (ED), urgent care, or other service line clinics.We examined how different starting points impacted the location and timing of the next LBP encounter.Methods: Veteran Affairs (VA) electronic health records were used to identify veterans with an initial visit for LBP, defined as a visit with an International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) LBP-related code after a 365-day period without such a visit, between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016.Primary and secondary clinic stop codes were used to identify the initial entry point and stratify the clinics into 3 groups: ED/urgent care, primary care, and all other service lines grouped into "other."The location of the first subsequent visit within 365 days with an ICD-10 code for LBP, if any, was similarly identified.Logistic regression was used to assess the impact of entry

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Cite This Study

Penza et al. (Fri,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69dc87ea3afacbeac03ea025 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acepjo.2026.100367

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