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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 11 of 11 Research Studies DisplayedMellor JM, McInerney M, Garrow RC
The impact of Medicaid expansion on spending and utilization by older low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
This study examined indirect spillover effects of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions to working-age adults on health care coverage, spending, and utilization by older low-income Medicare beneficiaries. The authors used data from the 2010-2018 Health and Retirement Study survey linked to annual Medicare beneficiary summary files. They estimated individual-level difference-in-differences models of total spending for inpatient, institutional outpatient, physician/professional provider services; inpatient stays, outpatient visits, physician visits; and Medicaid and Part A and B Medicare coverage. They also compared changes in outcomes before and after Medicaid expansion in expansion versus nonexpansion states. The sample included low-income respondents aged 69 and older with linked Medicare data, enrolled in full-year traditional Medicare, and living in the community. ACA Medicaid expansion was associated with a 9.8 percentage point increase in Medicaid coverage, a 4.4 percentage point increase in having any institutional outpatient spending, and a positive but statistically insignificant 2.4 percentage point change in Part B enrollment.
AHRQ-funded; HS025422.
Citation: Mellor JM, McInerney M, Garrow RC .
The impact of Medicaid expansion on spending and utilization by older low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Health Serv Res 2023 Oct; 58(5):1024-34. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14155..
Keywords: Medicaid, Medicare, Low-Income, Healthcare Utilization, Healthcare Costs, Health Insurance
Kalata S, Howard R, Diaz A
Association of skilled nursing facility ownership by health care networks with utilization and spending.
The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the association of vertical integration of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) within hospital networks with SNF utilization, readmissions, and spending. Claims data from Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 to 99 who had undergone elective hip replacement in nonfederal acute care hospitals during the study period was analyzed. Results showed that vertical SNF integration was associated with a higher rate of SNF utilization and a lower 30-day readmission rate; in spite of higher utilization, 30-day episode payments were slightly lower. Adjusted readmission rates were especially low for patients who were not sent to an SNF but were significantly higher for patients with a length of stay of less than 5 days. The authors concluded these findings support the value of integrating SNFs into hospital networks, but there is room for improvement in postoperative care early in the SNF patients’ stay.
AHRQ-funded; HS028606.
Citation: Kalata S, Howard R, Diaz A .
Association of skilled nursing facility ownership by health care networks with utilization and spending.
JAMA Netw Open 2023 Feb; 6(2):e230140. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.0140..
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Healthcare Utilization, Healthcare Costs, Medicare
Chang E, Ali R, Seibert J
Interventions to improve outcomes for high-need, high-cost patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The authors of this article reviewed evidence on the effectiveness of complex interventions designed to change the healthcare of high-need, high-cost patients. They found limited evidence of intervention effectiveness in relation to cost and use, but note that additional evidence is needed to strengthen their confidence in these findings. Few studies reported clinical/functional or social risk factor outcomes or sufficient details for determining why individual interventions work. They conclude that future evaluations could provide additional insights in assessing the impact of complex interventions.
AHRQ-funded; 290201500011I.
Citation: Chang E, Ali R, Seibert J .
Interventions to improve outcomes for high-need, high-cost patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
J Gen Intern Med 2023 Jan; 38(1):185-94. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07809-6..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Delivery, Chronic Conditions, Healthcare Utilization
Williams PH, Gilmartin HM, Leonard C
The influence of the Rural Transitions Nurse Program for veterans on healthcare utilization costs.
This study’s objective was to examine changes from pre- to post-hospitalization in total, inpatient, and outpatient 30-day healthcare utilization costs for Veterans Affairs Healthcare System Rural Transitions Nurse Program (TNP) enrollees compared to controls. Although findings showed no difference in change in total costs between veterans enrolled in TNP and controls, TNP was associated with a smaller increase in direct inpatient medical costs and a larger increase in direct outpatient medical costs, suggesting a shifting of costs from the inpatient to outpatient setting.
AHRQ-funded; HS024569.
Citation: Williams PH, Gilmartin HM, Leonard C .
The influence of the Rural Transitions Nurse Program for veterans on healthcare utilization costs.
J Gen Intern Med 2022 Nov;37(14):3529-34. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07401-y..
Keywords: Rural Health, Nursing, Transitions of Care, Healthcare Utilization, Healthcare Costs
Encinosa W, Lane K, Cornelio N
AHRQ Author: Encinosa W
How state surprise billing protections increased ED visits, 2007-2018: potential implications for the No Surprises Act.
This article discusses the 2022 No Surprises Act whose goal was to prevent patients from receiving unexpected emergency department (ED) out-of-network physician bills and restrict out-of-network co-payments to in-network co-payment levels. Similar state bans were examined to determine whether the large reduction in out-of-pocket payments under bans will have an unintended consequence of an increase in ED visits and spending. The authors examined 16 million nonelderly, fully funded, privately insured health maintenance organization (HMO) enrollees between 2007 and 2018 from 15 states with balance billing bans for HMO ED visits and 16 states without bans as the control group. They found that the bans reduced spending per visit by 14% but spurred a demand response with an increase of 3 percentage points in ED visits which wiped away the cost savings. The authors predict that the federal ban will result in $5.1 billion in savings but 3.5 million more ED visits at $4.2 billion in extra spending per year, largely negating expected savings.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; HS027698.
Citation: Encinosa W, Lane K, Cornelio N .
How state surprise billing protections increased ED visits, 2007-2018: potential implications for the No Surprises Act.
Am J Manag Care 2022 Sep;28(9):e333-e38. doi: 10.37765/ajmc.2022.89226..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Emergency Department, Policy, Healthcare Utilization
Levine DM, Chalasani R, Linder JA
Association of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with ambulatory quality, patient experience, utilization, and cost, 2014-2016.
The national impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be debated. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the relationship between the ACA and ambulatory quality, patient experience, utilization, and cost by comparing outcomes before (2011-2013) and after (2014-2016) ACA implementation. The study focused on United States adults between 18 and 64 years of age with income less than and greater than or equal to 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL), who had responded to the annual Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Researchers conducted analysis of data from a sample of 123,171 individuals between January 2021 and March 2022. The study found that after the implementation of ACA, adults with income levels less than 400% of the FPL received increased high value care such as diagnostic and preventive testing when compared with adults with income 400% or higher of the FPL, and there were no differences in the other quality measures. Individuals with income less than 400% of the FPL had greater improvements in access, experience, and communication measures compared with those who had income greater than or equal to 400% of the FPL. Receipt of primary care services increased for individuals with lower income compared to individuals with higher income and for those with lower income compared to those with higher income, total out-of-pocket expenditures decreased. There were no other differences in utilization or cost between those groups. The researchers concluded that in this study, the ACA was not associated with changes in utilization, quality, or cost, but was related to decreased out-of-pocket expenditures and improved patient access, communication, and experience.
AHRQ-funded; 233201500020I; HS026506; HS028127.
Citation: Levine DM, Chalasani R, Linder JA .
Association of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with ambulatory quality, patient experience, utilization, and cost, 2014-2016.
JAMA Netw Open 2022 Jun 1;5(6):e2218167. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.18167..
Keywords: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Utilization, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Health Insurance, Access to Care
Elser H, Lin W, Catalano RA
Does the implementation of reference pricing result in reduced utilization? Evidence from inpatient and outpatient procedures.
This study examined whether there an unintentional reduction in utilization of elective surgeries when reference pricing (RP) is implemented to incentivize patients to use low-price settings. The authors looked at claims from a large employee who adopted RP for selected elective surgeries, including inpatient joint replacement surgery and outpatient cataract surgery, colonoscopy, and arthroscopic surgery. They found no evidence of short-term decreases (within 3 months of RP implementation), however there were very modest declines of 20% fewer arthroscopic knee surgeries 6 months after RP implementation and 17.2% fewer colonoscopies. There were no declines in the other procedures mentioned above.
AHRQ-funded; HS022098.
Citation: Elser H, Lin W, Catalano RA .
Does the implementation of reference pricing result in reduced utilization? Evidence from inpatient and outpatient procedures.
Med Care Res Rev 2022 Feb;79(1):58-68. doi: 10.1177/1077558720971117..
Keywords: Healthcare Utilization, Healthcare Costs
Bayer ND, Hall M, LI Y
Trends in health care use and spending for young children with neurologic impairment.
This retrospective study examined trends in health care use and spending for young children with neurologic impairment (NI) during their first 5 years of life. This study of 13,947 children with NI used data in the multistate IBM Medicaid MarketScan Database from 2009 to 2017. Inpatient service use decreased from 66.8% during the first year down to 5.8% during the fifth year. Emergency department (ED) use decreased more gradually from 67.8% during the first year to 44.4% during the fifth year. Per-member-per-year spending decreased from $83,352 during the first year down to $1944 in the fifth year.
AHRQ-funded; HS025138.
Citation: Bayer ND, Hall M, LI Y .
Trends in health care use and spending for young children with neurologic impairment.
Pediatrics 2022 Jan;149(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-050905.
AHRQ-funded; HS025138..
AHRQ-funded; HS025138..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Utilization, Neurological Disorders
Brown TT, Hurley VB, Rodriguez HP
Association of patient engagement strategies with utilisation and spending for musculoskeletal problems in the USA: a cross-sectional analysis of Medicare patients and physician practices.
This cross-sectional study assessed the association of physician practice-level adoption of patient engagement strategies (PES), such as shared decision-making and motivational interviewing, with utilization and spending. The cohort included primary and secondary patients in 2190 practices who receiving treatment for hip (39,336), knee (48,362), and lower-back (67,940) issues who were Medicare beneficiaries that were matched to the 2017-2018 National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems. Outcome measures were total knee replacement (TKR), total hip replacement (THR), 1-2 level posterior lumbar fusion (LF), total annual spending, and components of total annual spending. Spending was significantly lower in some categories for practices with relatively higher PES adoption, but did not differ for other practices. The odds of receiving THR were higher in independent practices for patients attributed to practices with moderate PES compared to patients in practices with low PES.
AHRQ-funded; HS024075.
Citation: Brown TT, Hurley VB, Rodriguez HP .
Association of patient engagement strategies with utilisation and spending for musculoskeletal problems in the USA: a cross-sectional analysis of Medicare patients and physician practices.
BMJ Open 2021 Nov 26;11(11):e053121. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053121..
Keywords: Patient and Family Engagement, Healthcare Utilization, Healthcare Costs, Arthritis, Orthopedics
Chhabra KR, Fan Z, Chao GF
The role of commercial health insurance characteristics in bariatric surgery utilization.
The goal of this study was to understand relationships among insurance plan type, out-of-pocket cost sharing, and the utilization of bariatric surgery among commercially insured patients. Over 73,000 commercially insured members of the IBM MarketScan commercial claims database who underwent bariatric surgery from 2014-17 were retroactively reviewed. Findings showed that insurance plan types with higher cost sharing have lower utilization of bariatric surgery.
AHRQ-funded; HS025778; HS000053.
Citation: Chhabra KR, Fan Z, Chao GF .
The role of commercial health insurance characteristics in bariatric surgery utilization.
Ann Surg 2021 Jun;273(6):1150-56. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000003569..
Keywords: Health Insurance, Obesity, Obesity: Weight Management, Surgery, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Utilization
Rapoport AB, Fine DR, Manne-Goehler JM
High inpatient health care utilization and charges associated with injection drug use-related infections: a cohort study, 2012-2015.
This study described the characteristics of patients hospitalized with injection drug use-related infection over a multiyear period in a region highly impacted by the opioid epidemic. Findings revealed a longer average length of stay with subsequent higher cost, a higher percentage of 30-day readmissions, disproportionate public payer mix representation, and higher rates of discharge to alternate facilities for ongoing care as compared with the total inpatient cohort.
AHRQ-funded; HS026215.
Citation: Rapoport AB, Fine DR, Manne-Goehler JM .
High inpatient health care utilization and charges associated with injection drug use-related infections: a cohort study, 2012-2015.
Open Forum Infect Dis 2021 Mar;8(3):ofab009. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab009..
Keywords: Opioids, Substance Abuse, Hospitalization, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Utilization