National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Latest available findings on quality of and access to health care
Data
- Data Infographics
- Data Visualizations
- Data Tools
- Data Innovations
- All-Payer Claims Database
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
- AHRQ Quality Indicator Tools for Data Analytics
- State Snapshots
- United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)
- Data Sources Available from AHRQ
Search All Research Studies
AHRQ Research Studies
Sign up: AHRQ Research Studies Email updates
Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 5 of 5 Research Studies DisplayedGanguli I, Ying W, Shakley T
Cascade services and spending following low-value imaging for uncomplicated low back pain among commercially insured adults.
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of low-value imaging on cascade services and spending in commercially-insured adults with uncomplicated acute low back pain. The researchers analyzed medical claims from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts members aged 18-50 years who received a 2018 diagnosis of uncomplicated low back pain, for which imaging was considered inappropriate according to the National Committee for Quality Assurance Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) criteria. In 2018, 30,892 members were eligible for low-value imaging. Of these, 6009 (19.5%) received low-value imaging: 5091 (16.5%) X-ray and 787 (2.5%) MRI. The study found that when compared to patients without low-value imaging, those with low-value X-ray or MRI had higher adjusted probabilities of receiving cascade services and greater adjusted total spending at 3, 6, and 12 months. These results were robust to falsification testing. Members with high deductible health plans (HDHP) had higher narrowly defined cascade-associated out-of-pocket spending than those in other plans. The most common sources of narrowly defined cascade-associated spending were physical therapy, office visits, radiology studies, laboratory studies, and surgery.
J Gen Intern Med 2023 Mar;38(4):1102-05. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07829-2
Citation: Ganguli I, Ying W, Shakley T .
Cascade services and spending following low-value imaging for uncomplicated low back pain among commercially insured adults.
.
Keywords: Imaging, Back Health and Pain, Pain, Healthcare Costs
Whaley CM, Zhao X, Richards M
Higher Medicare spending on imaging and lab services after primary care physician group vertical integration.
This study looked at the impact of direct ownership of physician practices by hospitals and health systems (vertical integration) on Medicare spending for imaging and lab services. A 100% sample of 2013-16 Medicare fee-for-service claims data was examined to determine if vertical integration was associated with changes in site of care and Medicare reimbursement rates for ten common diagnostic imaging and laboratory services. After vertical integration, the monthly number of diagnostic imaging tests per 1,000 attributed beneficiaries increased in a hospital setting by 26.3 per 1000, and the number performed in a nonhospital setting decreased by 24.8 per 1,000. Hospital-based laboratory tests increased by 44.5 per 1,000 and non-hospital-based laboratory tests decreased by 36.0 per 1,000. Average Medicare reimbursement rose by $6.38 for imaging tests and $0.57 for laboratory tests. This translates to $40.2 million increase for imaging and $32.9 million increase for laboratory tests in Medicare spending for the study period.
AHRQ-funded; HS024067.
Citation: Whaley CM, Zhao X, Richards M .
Higher Medicare spending on imaging and lab services after primary care physician group vertical integration.
Health Aff 2021 May;40(5):702-09. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01006..
Keywords: Medicare, Healthcare Costs, Imaging, Primary Care
Callaghan BC, Kerber KA, Banerjee M
The evaluation of distal symmetric polyneuropathy: utilisation and expenditures by community neurologists.
The aim of the study was to determine utilization and expenditures in the evaluation of a new diagnosis of distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSP) by community neurologists using a population-based design and a strict case definition. It concluded that electrodiagnostic tests and MRIs are frequently ordered in the diagnostic evaluation of DSP and account for more than 80% of the expenditures.
AHRQ-funded; HS017690.
Citation: Callaghan BC, Kerber KA, Banerjee M .
The evaluation of distal symmetric polyneuropathy: utilisation and expenditures by community neurologists.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2016 Jan;87(1):113-4. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2014-307575.
.
.
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Utilization, Imaging
Roth JA, Ramsey SD
Computed tomography screening for lung cancer: A high-value proposition?
This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of low-dose computed tomographic scan screening for lung cancer within the Canadian health care system. It found that compared with no screening, the reference scenario saved 51,000 quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) and had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of CaD $52,000/QALY.
HS022982.
Citation: Roth JA, Ramsey SD .
Computed tomography screening for lung cancer: A high-value proposition?
JAMA 2016 Jan 5;315(1):77-8. doi: 10.1001/jama.2015.17877..
Keywords: Cancer: Lung Cancer, Imaging, Screening, Healthcare Costs, Quality of Life
Berdahl C, Schuur JD, Fisher NL
Policy measures and reimbursement for emergency medical imaging in the era of payment reform: proceedings from a panel discussion of the 2015 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference.
In May 2015, Academic Emergency Medicine convened a consensus conference titled "Diagnostic Imaging in the Emergency Department: A Research Agenda to Optimize Utilization." As part of the conference, a panel of health care policy leaders and emergency physicians discussed the effect of the Affordable Casre Act and other quality programs on ED diagnostic imaging. This article discusses the content of the panel's presentations.
AHRQ-funded; HS023498.
Citation: Berdahl C, Schuur JD, Fisher NL .
Policy measures and reimbursement for emergency medical imaging in the era of payment reform: proceedings from a panel discussion of the 2015 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference.
Acad Emerg Med 2015 Dec;22(12):1393-9. doi: 10.1111/acem.12829.
.
.
Keywords: Emergency Department, Healthcare Costs, Payment, Policy, Imaging, Policy, Quality Improvement