Managed Care

Research Findings

Research Activities, February 2010:
Medicare reimbursement changes lessen regional disparities for home health services

Research Activities, January 2010:
Medicare payment caps on home care add to the family caregiving burden, especially among lower-income families
Persons with mental disorders switching from Medicaid to Medicare drug coverage may have drug access problems
Studies examine impact of drug caps and pay for performance on care costs and outcomes

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Research Activities, December 2009:
Women in Michigan who suffer miscarriages may not be receiving patient-centered care

Research Activities, November 2009:
Medicare coverage gap may prompt some patients with diabetes to cut back on their medicines

Research Activities, October 2009:
Women are vulnerable to coverage and care gaps when their husbands transition to Medicare

Research Activities, August 2009:
Medicare claims data identify hospital-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infections with limited accuracy
Medicare's end-stage renal disease program seems to have reduced outcome disparities among dialysis patients

Research Activities, June 2009:
Medicare beneficiaries with cancer do not frequently use National Cancer Institute Cancer Centers for care
Competition among HMOs may have a negative impact on quality
Recent past performance ratings of HMOs predict good performance in the future
Medicare payments for outpatient prescription drugs jumped by more than $38 billion in 2006

Research Activities, March 2009:
Mandatory public reporting of care performance did not affect quality of care for Medicare managed care patients

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Research Activities, December 2008:
Medicare patients with cancer don't switch from managed care to fee-for-service

Research Activities, October 2008:
The impact of drug formularies and other approaches to improve medication use in managed care needs more study

Research Activities, August 2008:
University's open season shows embrace of preferred provider organizations but no backlash against HMOs

Research Activities, July 2008:
Children with private insurance have better access to specialty care than those with public and no insurance

Research Activities, February 2008:
Children with special health care needs seem to benefit from Medicaid managed care programs with case managers
Studies examine the impact of nurse staffing on complications, mortality, and length of hospital stay
Managed care helps the elderly avoid preventable hospitalizations more than traditional Medicare

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Research Activities, November 2007:
Caregivers of children with special health care needs rate Medicaid managed care as having better care access than fee-for-service
Postdischarge care management that integrates medical and social care can improve outcomes of the low-income elderly
California Medicaid managed care plans would like to increase chronic disease care management programs

Research Activities, October 2007:
Studies show lower colorectal cancer screening rates and access to surgery among the poor, minority, and uninsured

Research Activities, September 2007:
Women in Medicare and private managed care plans receive worse care than men for cardiovascular disease and diabetes
Physicians seem to manage potential conflicts with managed care financial arrangements to retain patient trust

Research Activities, August 2007:
Price competition induced by HMOs and other managed care plans in California has not diminished hospital quality of care
Socioeconomically disadvantaged patients with lupus have less access to and use of health care
Education, income, and wealth all affect medical care expenditures among Medicare managed care members

Research Activities, June 2007:
Reduced payments to hospitals may jeopardize patient safety
A managed care model and care coordination can reduce emergency department use among children with special health care needs
Better outpatient care processes can improve the quality of life for patients with chronic disease

Research Activities, May 2007:
A study of one managed behavioral health care organization does not show a shift in treatment costs to drugs and primary care

Research Activities, March 2007:
Studies highlight the interaction between managed care and market forces and their impact on quality of care
State Children's Health Insurance Programs have improved access to care for previously uninsured children
Factors such as disease status and sex affect adherence to drug prescribing guidelines for hypertension

Research Activities, February 2007:
Some pregnant women are still prescribed medications with the potential to harm the fetus
Computerized and age-specific drug alerts can reduce both inappropriate prescribing of drugs and unnecessary drug alerts

Research Activities, January 2007:
African-American physicians were much more likely than white physicians to practice in HMOs in the 1990s
Most quality improvement strategies produce only small to modest improvements in glycemic control among patients with diabetes

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Research Activities, November 2006:
Uninsured children's access to care is influenced by the availability and capacity of a local safety net
HMOs do not appear to adversely affect the health of the near-elderly and may benefit those with chronic health conditions

Research Activities, October 2006:
Severity of illness and rural location affect the willingness of elderly people to travel longer distances to the hospital
Greater competition among health plans is linked to more advertising that targets healthier patients

Research Activities, September 2006:
Previous hospital performance, internal operations, and market competition are key in improving hospital performance

Research Activities, August 2006:
Studies highlight the value of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to inform trends in care costs, coverage, use, and access

Research Activities, July 2006:
Doctors often fail to order laboratory monitoring when elderly HMO outpatients begin cardiovascular medications
Reductions in primary and preventive care use under Medicaid primary care case management are more dramatic for minority children

Research Activities, June 2006:
Primary care physician and health care system characteristics influence the likelihood of referral to specialists
A practice-based research cohort of patients may have advantages over the traditional PBRN model

Research Activities, May 2006
Medicaid may reduce racial/ethnic differences in preventable hospitalizations, but Medicaid managed care adds no extra benefit
Medicaid managed care plans with case management programs may benefit children with disabilities more than fee-for-service plans
Greater Medicare HMO penetration is associated with a shift in elderly stroke deaths from hospital to non-hospital settings

Research Activities, April 2006
New information will help health care providers adopt health information technologies

Research Activities, March 2006
Some for-profit Medicare health plans provide lower quality of care than not-for-profit plans
Medi-Cal changes in the 1990s shifted newborn deliveries from large public hospitals to smaller community hospitals

Research Activities, February 2006:
Employer-offered health coverage affects plan uptake by workers, but has less effect on overall worker and family coverage rates

Research Activities, January 2006:
Studies examine the impact of Medicaid managed care programs on access to and use of care

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