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AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- Healthcare Costs (11)
- Healthcare Utilization (1)
- Health Insurance (2)
- Health Services Research (HSR) (1)
- Health Systems (1)
- Home Healthcare (1)
- Hospital Readmissions (1)
- Hospitals (3)
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- (-) Payment (15)
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- Quality of Care (4)
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 15 of 15 Research Studies DisplayedKim KL, LI L, Kuang M
Changes in hospital referral patterns to skilled nursing facilities under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.
The objective of this study was to investigate the association between changes in hospital referral patterns to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) penalty pressure. Results showed that HRRP did not prompt substantial changes in hospital referral patterns to SNFs, although readmissions for patients referred to SNFs differentially decreased more than for other patients, warranting investigation of other mechanisms underlying readmissions reduction.
AHRQ-funded; HS022882.
Citation: Kim KL, LI L, Kuang M .
Changes in hospital referral patterns to skilled nursing facilities under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.
Med Care 2019 Sep;57(9):695-701. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001169..
Keywords: Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Hospital Readmissions, Payment, Provider Performance
Markovitz AA, Mullangi S, Hollingsworth JM
ACOs and the 1%: changes in spending among high-cost patients following the Medicare shared savings program.
This paper analyzed changes in spending among high-cost patients following the creation of accountable care organizations (ACOs), specifically for the Medicare Shared Savings Program – which is Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) flagship program. Changes in spending for Medicare fee-for-services were analyzed for different spending percentiles (50th, 90th, and 99th) as well as regionally. While there was a reduction in spending, it was not considered statistically significant and has not affected spending within or across regions. However, the authors note that the study is limited by the program’s voluntary nature and may be not a full reflection of the changes.
AHRQ-funded; HS024525; HS024728; HS025615.
Citation: Markovitz AA, Mullangi S, Hollingsworth JM .
ACOs and the 1%: changes in spending among high-cost patients following the Medicare shared savings program.
J Gen Intern Med 2019 Jul;34(7):1116-18. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-04963-2..
Keywords: Medicare, Healthcare Costs, Payment
Diaz-Perez MJ, Hanover R, Sites E
Producing comparable cost and quality results from all-payer claims databases.
This study describes how all-payer claims databases (APCDs) can produce comparable cost and quality results for 4 states using a multistate analysis. Data was used from 2014 commercial claims in Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Utah. The partners standardized the rules for including payers, data set elements, measure specifications, SAS code and adjustments for population differences in age and gender. A Uniform Data Structure file format was created which can be used across multiple population, measures, and research dimensions.
AHRQ-funded; HS024072.
Citation: Diaz-Perez MJ, Hanover R, Sites E .
Producing comparable cost and quality results from all-payer claims databases.
Am J Manag Care 2019 May;25(5):e138-e44..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment, Quality of Care
Damberg CL, Silverman M, Burgette L
Are value-based incentives driving behavior change to improve value?
The purpose of this study, which used semi-structured interviews and surveys, was to understand physician organization (PO) responses to financial incentives for quality and total cost of care among POs that were exposed to a statewide multipayer value-based payment (VBP) program, and to identify challenges that POs face in advancing the goals of VBP.
AHRQ-funded; HS024067.
Citation: Damberg CL, Silverman M, Burgette L .
Are value-based incentives driving behavior change to improve value?
Am J Manag Care 2019 Feb;25(2):e26-e32..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment
Whaley CM, Brown TT
Firm responses to targeted consumer incentives: evidence from reference pricing for surgical services.
This study examined how health care providers respond to a reference pricing insurance program that increases consumer cost sharing when they chose high-priced surgical providers. Geographic variation was used to estimate supply-side responses. Limited evidence of market segmentation and price reductions for providers with baseline prices above the reference price was found. However, 75% of the reduction in provider prices benefited a population that was not subject to the program.
AHRQ-funded; HS022098.
Citation: Whaley CM, Brown TT .
Firm responses to targeted consumer incentives: evidence from reference pricing for surgical services.
J Health Econ 2018 Sep;61:111-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.06.012..
Keywords: Health Insurance, Surgery, Payment, Healthcare Costs
Markovitz AA, Ramsay PP, Shortell SM
Financial incentives and physician practice participation in Medicare's value-based reforms.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether greater experience and success with performance incentives among physician practices are related to increased participation in Medicare's voluntary value-based payment reforms. The authors concluded that Medicare must complement financial incentives with additional efforts to address the needs of practices with less experience with such incentives to promote value-based payment on a broader scale.
AHRQ-funded; HS018546.
Citation: Markovitz AA, Ramsay PP, Shortell SM .
Financial incentives and physician practice participation in Medicare's value-based reforms.
Health Serv Res 2018 Aug;53 Suppl 1:3052-69. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12743..
Keywords: Payment, Medicare, Provider Performance
McCurdy RK, Encinosa WE
AHRQ Author: Encinosa, WE
Are medical offices ready for value-based reimbursement? Staff perceptions of a workplace climate for value and efficiency.
The goal of the study was to assess medical office staff member perceptions of a workplace climate for value. The study’s findings highlight the need for management strategies that emphasize staff training and engagement and the use of performance data and that stress value principles across all organizational activities, including workforce development, performance management, and recruitment.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded
Citation: McCurdy RK, Encinosa WE .
Are medical offices ready for value-based reimbursement? Staff perceptions of a workplace climate for value and efficiency.
Am J Accountable Care 2018 Jun;6(2):11-19..
Keywords: Payment, Provider: Health Personnel
Funk RJ, Owen-Smith J, Kaufman SA
Association of informal clinical integration of physicians with cardiac surgery payments.
This study examined how physician interaction patterns vary between health systems and to assess whether variation in informal integration is associated with care delivery payments. It found that when beneficiaries were treated in health systems with higher informal integration, the greatest savings of lower estimated payments were from hospital readmissions (13.0 percent) and postacute care services (5.8 percent).
AHRQ-funded; HS024728.
Citation: Funk RJ, Owen-Smith J, Kaufman SA .
Association of informal clinical integration of physicians with cardiac surgery payments.
JAMA Surg 2018 May;153(5):446-53. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2017.5150.
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Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment, Health Systems, Surgery
Chen LM, Ryan AM, Shih T
Medicare's acute care episode demonstration: effects of bundled payments on costs and quality of surgical care.
This study evaluated whether participation in Medicare's Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration Program-an early, small, voluntary episode-based payment program-was associated with a change in expenditures or quality of care. Participation in Medicare's ACE Demonstration Program was not associated with a change in 30-day episode-based Medicare payments or 30-day mortality for cardiac or orthopedic surgery, but it was associated with lower total 30-day post-acute care payments.
AHRQ-funded; HS018546; HS024698; HS020671.
Citation: Chen LM, Ryan AM, Shih T .
Medicare's acute care episode demonstration: effects of bundled payments on costs and quality of surgical care.
Health Serv Res 2018 Apr;53(2):632-48. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12681.
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Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment, Quality of Care, Surgery
Colla CH, Morden NE, Sequist TD
Payer type and low-value care: comparing Choosing Wisely services across commercial and Medicare populations.
This study compared low-value health service use among commercially insured and Medicare populations and explored the influence of payer type on the provision of low-value care. In measuring use of seven Choosing Wisely-identified low-value services, it concluded that low-value care appears driven by factors unrelated to payer type or anticipated reimbursement.
AHRQ-funded; HS023812.
Citation: Colla CH, Morden NE, Sequist TD .
Payer type and low-value care: comparing Choosing Wisely services across commercial and Medicare populations.
Health Serv Res 2018 Apr;53(2):730-46. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12665.
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Keywords: Payment, Healthcare Utilization, Health Services Research (HSR), Medicare
Paddock SM, Damberg CL, Yanagihara D
What role does efficiency play in understanding the relationship between cost and quality in physician organizations?
Previous studies demonstrate overuse of a narrow set of services, suggesting provider inefficiency, but existing studies neither quantify inefficiency more broadly nor assess its variation across physician organizations (POs). This study found that POs had substantial variation in efficiency, producing widely differing levels of quality for the same cost.
AHRQ-funded; HS021860.
Citation: Paddock SM, Damberg CL, Yanagihara D .
What role does efficiency play in understanding the relationship between cost and quality in physician organizations?
Med Care 2017 Dec;55(12):1039-45. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000000823.
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Keywords: Practice Patterns, Healthcare Costs, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Payment, Provider Performance
Chen LM, Epstein AM, Orav EJ
Association of practice-level social and medical risk with performance in the Medicare physician value-based payment modifier program.
The objective of this cross-sectional observational study was to compare performance in the Physician Value-Based Payment Modifier (PVBM) Program by practice characteristics. The investigators found that during the first year of the Medicare Physician Value-Based Payment Modifier Program, physician practices that served more socially high-risk patients had lower quality and lower costs, and practices that served more medically high-risk patients had lower quality and higher costs.
AHRQ-funded; HS024698.
Citation: Chen LM, Epstein AM, Orav EJ .
Association of practice-level social and medical risk with performance in the Medicare physician value-based payment modifier program.
JAMA 2017 Aug 1;318(5):453-61. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.9643..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Medicaid, Medicare, Payment, Quality of Care
Carey K, Dor A
http://www.healthfinancejournal.com/index.php/johcf/article/view/114
Price variations and their trends in U.S. hospitals.
This study tracked trends in prices paid to hospitals by commercial insurers over the period 2008 to 2014 using private sector claims data that contain actual payments. It contrasted these with trends in the CMS published charges. Results indicated that variation in actual commercially-transacted prices is substantially lower than variation in published charges.
AHRQ-funded; HS023610.
Citation: Carey K, Dor A .
Price variations and their trends in U.S. hospitals.
J Health Care Finance 2017 Sum;44(1).
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Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment, Health Insurance, Hospitals
Krinsky S, Ryan AM, Mijanovich T
Variation in payment rates under Medicare's Inpatient Prospective Payment System.
The researchers measured variation in payment rates under Medicare's Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and identified the main payment adjustments that drive variation. In 2013, Medicare paid for acute inpatient discharges at a rate 31 percent above the IPPS base. For the top 10 percent of discharges, the mean rate was double the IPPS base. Variations were driven by adjustments for medical education and care to low-income populations.
AHRQ-funded; HS018546.
Citation: Krinsky S, Ryan AM, Mijanovich T .
Variation in payment rates under Medicare's Inpatient Prospective Payment System.
Health Serv Res 2017 Apr;52(2):676-96. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12490.
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Keywords: Payment, Medicare, Healthcare Costs, Hospitals
Sood N, Alpert A, Barnes K
Effects of payment reform in more versus less competitive markets.
In this paper, the authors exploit a major payment reform for home health care to examine whether reductions in reimbursement lead to differential changes in treatment intensity and provider costs depending on the level of competition in a market. Using Medicare claims, they find that while providers in more competitive markets had higher average costs in the pre-reform period, these markets experienced larger proportional reductions in treatment intensity and costs after the reform relative to less competitive markets..
AHRQ-funded; HS018541.
Citation: Sood N, Alpert A, Barnes K .
Effects of payment reform in more versus less competitive markets.
J Health Econ 2017 Jan;51:66-83. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2016.12.006.
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Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment, Home Healthcare, Policy