About the Authors

Bich N. Dang

bndang@bcm.edu

Affiliations Houston Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, Houston, Texas, United States of America, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America, Harris County Hospital District, Houston, Texas, United States of America

Robert A. Westbrook

Affiliation Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America

Maria C. Rodriguez-Barradas

Affiliations Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America

Thomas P. Giordano

Affiliations Houston Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, Houston, Texas, United States of America, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America, Harris County Hospital District, Houston, Texas, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: BND RAW MCR TPG. Analyzed the data: BND RAW. Wrote the paper: BND. Interpreted the data: BND RAW TPG. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: BND RAW MCR TPG.