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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
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1 to 25 of 37 Research Studies DisplayedLiao JM, Wang E, Isidro U
The association between bundled payment participation and changes in medical episode outcomes among high-risk patients.
This research evaluated whether the association between participation in bundled payments for medical conditions and episode outcomes differed for clinically high-risk versus other patients in regard to length of stay (LOS) at skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Participants included 471,421 Medicare patients hospitalized at bundled payment and propensity-matched non-participating hospitals. Primary outcomes were SNF LOS and 90-day unplanned readmissions. SNF length of stay was differentially lower among frail patients, patients with advanced age (>85 years), and those with prior institutional post-acute care provider utilization compared to non-frail, younger, and patients without prior utilization, respectively. Bundled payment participation was also associated with differentially greater SNF LOS among disabled patients. It was not associated with differential changes in readmissions in any high-risk group but was associated with changes in quality, utilization, and spending measures for some groups.
AHRQ-funded; HS027595.
Citation: Liao JM, Wang E, Isidro U .
The association between bundled payment participation and changes in medical episode outcomes among high-risk patients.
Healthcare 2022 Dec 12; 10(12). doi: 10.3390/healthcare10122510..
Keywords: Payment, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Risk, Policy
Li J, Wu B, Flory J
Impact of the Affordable Care Act's Physician Payments Sunshine Act on branded statin prescribing.
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the Affordable Care Act's Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PPSA) and its mandate of disclosing pharmaceutical and medical industry payments to physicians for prescribing branded statins. The study found that the PPSA contributed to a 7% decrease in monthly new prescriptions of brand-name statins over the study period. There was no significant change in generic prescribing. The reduction was concentrated among physicians with the highest tercile of drug spending prior to the enactment of the PPSA, with a decrease of 15% in new branded statin prescriptions. The researchers concluded that the PPSA mandate reduced the prescribing of branded statin prescriptions in the time period following its announcement, especially in physicians who were taking part in excessive prescribing of the branded statins.
AHRQ-funded; HS027001.
Citation: Li J, Wu B, Flory J .
Impact of the Affordable Care Act's Physician Payments Sunshine Act on branded statin prescribing.
Health Serv Res 2022 Oct;57(5):1145-53. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14024..
Keywords: Payment, Policy, Medicare, Health Insurance
Lipton BJ, Decker SL, Stitt B
Association between Medicaid dental payment policies and children's dental visits, oral health, and school absences.
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess the relationship between the ratio of Medicaid payment rates to dentist charges and children's preventive dental visits, oral health, and school absences. The researchers conducted a difference-in-differences analysis of 15,738 Medicaid-enrolled children and a control group of 16 867 privately insured children aged 6 to 17 years who participated in the 2016-2019 National Survey of Children's Health. The study found that 87% and 48% of Medicaid-enrolled children had at least 1 and at least 2 past-year dental visits, respectively, and 29% had parent-reported excellent oral health. Increasing the fee ratio by was associated with increases in at least 1 and 2 visits and in excellent oral health. Increases in at least 2 visits were larger for Hispanic children than for White children. By weighted baseline estimates, 28% and 15% of Medicaid-enrolled children had at least 4 and at least 7 past-year school absences, respectively. The researchers concluded that Medicaid policies with higher payments were associated with modest increases in children's preventive dental visits and excellent oral health.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Lipton BJ, Decker SL, Stitt B .
Association between Medicaid dental payment policies and children's dental visits, oral health, and school absences.
JAMA Health Forum 2022 Sep 2;3(9):e223041. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.3041..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Dental and Oral Health, Medicaid, Payment, Policy
Sood N, Yang Z, Huckfeldt P
Geographic variation in Medicare fee-for-service health care expenditures before and after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
This cross-section study examined geographic variation in Medicare fee-for-service health care expenditures before and after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The study included all fee-for-service Medicare enrollees aged 65 and older from 2007 to 2018 using data from the Medicare Geographic Variation Public Use File. Hospital referral regions (HRRs) were grouped in each year into deciles (10 equal groups) based on per-beneficiary total spending. Geographic variation was stable from 2007 to 2011 and declined steadily from 2012 through 2018. In specific spending categories, only home health had statistically significant reductions in geographic variation. The ratio of home health spending among HRRs in the top to bottom deciles of total Medicare spending fell from 5.14 in 2007 to 3.45 in 2018.
AHRQ-funded; HS025394.
Citation: Sood N, Yang Z, Huckfeldt P .
Geographic variation in Medicare fee-for-service health care expenditures before and after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
JAMA Health Forum 2021 Dec;2(12):e214122. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.4122..
Keywords: Medicare, Policy, Healthcare Costs, Payment
Zachrison KS, Boggs KM, Cash RE
Are state telemedicine parity laws associated with greater use of telemedicine in the emergency department?
Telemedicine is a valuable tool to improve access to specialty care in emergency departments (EDs), and states have passed telemedicine parity laws requiring insurers to reimburse for telemedicine visits. The objective of this study was to determine if there was an association between such laws and the use of telemedicine in an ED. The investigators concluded that telemedicine parity laws were not associated with use of telemedicine in the ED.
AHRQ-funded; HS024561.
Citation: Zachrison KS, Boggs KM, Cash RE .
Are state telemedicine parity laws associated with greater use of telemedicine in the emergency department?
J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open 2021 Feb;2(1):e212359. doi: 10.1002/emp2.12359..
Keywords: Telehealth, Emergency Department, Health Information Technology (HIT), Policy, Payment
Roberts ET, Nimgaonkar A, Aarons J
New evidence of state variation in Medicaid payment policies for dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees.
The authors developed the first longitudinal database of state Medicaid policies for paying the cost sharing in Medicare Part B for services provided to dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees (duals), and an index summarizing the impact of these policies on payments for physician office services. Information from 2004-2018 was consolidated from online Medicaid policy documents, state laws, and policy data reported to them by state Medicaid programs. The database showed that in 2018 42 states had policies to limit Medicaid payments of Medicare cost sharing when Medicaid’s fee schedule was lower than Medicare’s. This was an increase from 36 such states in 2004. In most states, combined Medicare and Medicare payments for evaluation and management services provided to duals averaged 78% of the Medicare allowed amount for these services.
AHRQ-funded; HS026727.
Citation: Roberts ET, Nimgaonkar A, Aarons J .
New evidence of state variation in Medicaid payment policies for dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees.
Health Serv Res 2020 Oct;55(5):701-09. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13545..
Keywords: Medicaid, Medicare, Payment, Policy, Healthcare Costs, Health Insurance
Reynolds EL, Kerber KA, Hill C
The effects of the Medicare NCS reimbursement policy: utilization, payments, and patient access.
The purpose of this research was to determine whether the 2013 nerve conduction study (NCS) reimbursement reduction changed Medicare use, payments, and patient access to Medicare physicians by performing a retrospective analysis of Medicare data. The investigators found that the Medicare NCS reimbursement policy resulted in a larger decrease in NCS providers than in EMG providers. Despite fewer neurologists and physiatrists performing NCS, Medicare access to these physicians for E/M services was not affected.
AHRQ-funded; HS017690; HS022258.
Citation: Reynolds EL, Kerber KA, Hill C .
The effects of the Medicare NCS reimbursement policy: utilization, payments, and patient access.
Neurology 2020 Aug 18;95(7):e930-e35. doi: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000010090..
Keywords: Payment, Medicare, Policy, Practice Patterns
Rhee TG, Wilkinson ST
Exploring the psychiatrist-industry financial relationship: insight from the open payment data of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act (PPSA) requires reporting of financial payments by pharmaceutical and medical device companies to teaching hospitals and individual physicians in the United States. In this study, industry payments made to psychiatrists were quantified. The investigators found that over half of active psychiatrists (55.7%) received some form of payments from pharmaceutical manufacturers.
AHRQ-funded; HS023000.
Citation: Rhee TG, Wilkinson ST .
Exploring the psychiatrist-industry financial relationship: insight from the open payment data of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Adm Policy Ment Health 2020 Jul;47(4):526-30. doi: 10.1007/s10488-020-01009-2.
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Keywords: Provider: Physician, Provider, Behavioral Health, Payment, Policy
Rathi VK, McWilliams JM, Roberts ET
Rathi VK, McWilliams JM, Roberts ET. Getting incentives right in payment reform: thinking beyond financial risk.
In this paper the authors discuss payment reform, global budget models and why incentives differ for health system versus physician group ACO’s. They indicate that incentives in new payment models are closely connected to the structure of the health care delivery system and that policies that ignore this relationship and focus only on the risk terms of payment contracts may miss opportunities for progress.
AHRQ-funded; HS026727.
Citation: Rathi VK, McWilliams JM, Roberts ET .
Rathi VK, McWilliams JM, Roberts ET. Getting incentives right in payment reform: thinking beyond financial risk.
Ann Intern Med 2020 Mar 17;172(6):423-24. doi: 10.7326/m19-3178..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Policy, Payment
Huffstetler AN, Phillips RL
Payment structures that support social care integration with clinical care: social deprivation indices and novel payment models.
This perspective article focuses on four models employed both internationally and domestically to outline the implementation, successes, limitations, and research needed to support national application of social determinants of health (SDH) models. The association between high social risk and poor medical outcomes has been established globally; however, healthcare payment policies designed to respond to this relationship generally lack evidence of affecting outcomes. In countries with a legacy of adjusting healthcare payments for social risk, more robust evaluation of associated effects could be helpful. Payers, states, or health systems making similar resource commitments should build in robust longitudinal evaluations of outcomes to inform the evolution of their payment policies.
AHRQ-funded; HS026664.
Citation: Huffstetler AN, Phillips RL .
Payment structures that support social care integration with clinical care: social deprivation indices and novel payment models.
Am J Prev Med 2019 Dec;57(6s1):S82-s88. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.07.011..
Keywords: Payment, Social Determinants of Health, Policy
Chatterjee P, Qi M, Coe NB
Association between high discharge rates of vulnerable patients and skilled nursing facility copayments.
The authors sought to determine whether patterns of skilled nursing facility (SNF) discharge are associated with the change in Medicare payment responsibility on day 20. They found that Medicare beneficiaries were more often discharged from SNFs on benefit day 20 than on benefit days 19 or 21. Those discharged on day 20 were more likely to be racial/ethnic minorities and to live in areas of lower socioeconomic status compared with those discharged before or after day 20. Their findings suggested an association between disproportionately high SNF discharge rates of vulnerable patients and existing Medicare payment policies. The authors recommended that payment policies be designed with consideration of the potential for such unintended consequences, and that any potential consequences be mitigated by balancing existing payment structures with incentives to provide optimal patient care.
AHRQ-funded; HS024266.
Citation: Chatterjee P, Qi M, Coe NB .
Association between high discharge rates of vulnerable patients and skilled nursing facility copayments.
JAMA Intern Med 2019 Sep;179(9):1296-98. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.1209.
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Keywords: Vulnerable Populations, Nursing Homes, Medicare, Payment, Policy, Social Determinants of Health
Shorr RI, Staggs VS, Waters TM
Impact of the hospital-acquired conditions initiative on falls and physical restraints: a longitudinal study.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented the Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs) Initiative in October 2008; the CMS no longer reimbursed hospitals for fall injury. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the 2008 HACs Initiative on the rates of falls, injurious falls, and physical restraint use. The investigators concluded that since the HACs Initiative, there was at best a modest decline in the rates of falls and injurious falls observed primarily in larger, major teaching hospitals. An increase in restraint use was not observed.
AHRQ-funded; HS020627.
Citation: Shorr RI, Staggs VS, Waters TM .
Impact of the hospital-acquired conditions initiative on falls and physical restraints: a longitudinal study.
J Hosp Med 2019 Sep 6;14:E31-E36. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3295..
Keywords: Falls, Adverse Events, Hospitals, Payment, Policy, Elderly
Heintzman J, Cottrell E, Angier H
Impact of alternative payment methodology on primary care visits and scheduling.
The authors used electronic health record data to evaluate the impact of Oregon’s Alternative Payment Methodology (APM) on visit and scheduling metrics in the first wave of experiment clinics. They found that APM clinics experienced a greater increase in same-day visits but did not significantly differ from comparators in other visit metrics.
AHRQ-funded; HS022651.
Citation: Heintzman J, Cottrell E, Angier H .
Impact of alternative payment methodology on primary care visits and scheduling.
J Am Board Fam Med 2019 Jul-Aug;32(4):539-49. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2019.04.180368..
Keywords: Payment, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Policy
Modi PK, Kaufman SR, Caram MV
Impact of Medicare office visit payment reform on urologic practices.
This study analyzed the impact of the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on urologic practices. This new payment system modifies reimbursement for office evaluation and management visits. Researchers used a sample of 20% of National Medicare claims. They identified 2822 practices ranging from solo to multispecialty groups. Solo practices had the least benefit in reimbursement with most practices having a small increase in payment.
AHRQ-funded; HS025707.
Citation: Modi PK, Kaufman SR, Caram MV .
Impact of Medicare office visit payment reform on urologic practices.
Urology 2019 Apr;126:83-88. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2019.01.013..
Keywords: Medicare, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Payment, Policy
Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Kirby B
Effect of site-neutral payment policy on long-term acute care hospital use.
The purpose of this study was to assess the projected effect of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services new site-neutral payment policy, which aims to decrease unnecessary long-term acute care hospital (LTACH) admissions by reducing reimbursements for less-ill individuals by 2020. The investigators concluded that the site-neutral payment policy may limit LTACH access in existing LTAC-scarce markets, with potential adverse implications for recovery of hospitalized older adults.
AHRQ-funded; HS022418.
Citation: Makam AN, Nguyen OK, Kirby B .
Effect of site-neutral payment policy on long-term acute care hospital use.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2018 Nov;66(11):2104-11. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15539..
Keywords: Policy, Hospitalization, Payment, Long-Term Care, Healthcare Costs, Medicare, Elderly, Hospitals
Rhee C, Wang R, Jentzsch MS
Impact of the 2012 Medicaid health care-acquired conditions policy on catheter-associated urinary tract infection and vascular catheter-associated infection billing rates.
This study examines the impact of the 2012 Medicaid health care-acquired conditions policy on catheter-associated urinary tract infection and vascular catheter-associated infection billing rates. The investigators found no impact of the policy on rates of the two conditions among Medicaid or non-Medicaid patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008; HS018414; HS000063.
Citation: Rhee C, Wang R, Jentzsch MS .
Impact of the 2012 Medicaid health care-acquired conditions policy on catheter-associated urinary tract infection and vascular catheter-associated infection billing rates.
Open Forum Infect Dis 2018 Sep;5(9):ofy204. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofy204..
Keywords: Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI), Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Medicaid, Payment, Policy
Hollingsworth JM, Oerline MK, Ellimoottil C
Effects of the Medicare Modernization Act on spending for outpatient surgery.
The objective of the study was to examine the effects of Medicare's revised ambulatory surgery center (ASC) payment schedule on overall payments for outpatient surgery. The study concluded that despite lessening demand, reduced ASC facility payments did not curb spending for outpatient surgery. In fact, overall payments actually increased following the policy change, driven by higher average episode payments.
AHRQ-funded; HS024525; HS024728.
Citation: Hollingsworth JM, Oerline MK, Ellimoottil C .
Effects of the Medicare Modernization Act on spending for outpatient surgery.
Health Serv Res 2018 Aug;53 Suppl 1:2858-69. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12807..
Keywords: Payment, Policy, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Surgery
Decker SL
No association found between the Medicaid primary care fee bump and physician-reported participation in Medicaid.
The Affordable Care Act required states in 2013 and 2014 to raise Medicaid payment rates to primary care physicians for certain services to the level of Medicare rates. The result was an average 73 percent increase in primary care Medicaid payments for qualifying physicians. This study used nationally representative data to examine the association between this Medicaid "fee bump" and physician-reported measures of participation in Medicaid. No such association was found. The lack of a sizable change in measures of physician participation in Medicaid may have been due to the temporary nature of the fee bump.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Decker SL .
No association found between the Medicaid primary care fee bump and physician-reported participation in Medicaid.
Health Aff 2018 Jul;37(7):1092-98. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0078..
Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment, Medicaid, Policy, Primary Care
Briggs ADM, Alderwick H, Fisher ES
Overcoming challenges to US payment reform: could a place-based approach help?
Place-based approaches are defined as giving health care organizations or systems some degree of responsibility for the health or care of all individuals living in a specific place, a geographically defined area such as a county, hospital referral region, or state. As the United States moves away from mandatory participation in payment reform, the current place-based reforms in England offer some useful insights for US policy makers.
AHRQ-funded; HS024075.
Citation: Briggs ADM, Alderwick H, Fisher ES .
Overcoming challenges to US payment reform: could a place-based approach help?
JAMA 2018 Apr 17;319(15):1545-46. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.1542.
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Keywords: Payment, Policy, Quality Indicators (QIs)
Cottrell EK, Hall JD, Kautz G
Reporting from the front lines: implementing Oregon's alternative payment methodology in federally qualified health centers.
Alternative payment models have been proposed as a way to facilitate patient-centered medical home model implementation, yet little is known about how payment reform translates into changes in care delivery. This study conducted site visits, observed operations, and conducted interviews within 3 Federally Qualified Health Center organizations. They identified several care delivery changes during the early stages of implementation, as well as challenges associated with this new model of payment.
AHRQ-funded; HS022651.
Citation: Cottrell EK, Hall JD, Kautz G .
Reporting from the front lines: implementing Oregon's alternative payment methodology in federally qualified health centers.
J Ambul Care Manage 2017 Oct/Dec;40(4):339-46. doi: 10.1097/jac.0000000000000198..
Keywords: Healthcare Delivery, Payment, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Policy, Primary Care
DeMeester RH, Xu LJ, Nocon RS
Solving disparities through payment and delivery system reform: a program to achieve health equity.
In 2013 the Finding Answers: Solving Disparities through Payment and Delivery System Reform program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sought to understand how alternative payment models might intentionally incorporate a disparities-reduction component to promote health equity. A qualitative analysis of forty proposals to the program revealed that applicants generally did not link payment reform tightly to disparities reduction.
AHRQ-funded; HS000084.
Citation: DeMeester RH, Xu LJ, Nocon RS .
Solving disparities through payment and delivery system reform: a program to achieve health equity.
Health Aff 2017 Jun;36(6):1133-39. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0979.
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Keywords: Disparities, Healthcare Delivery, Payment, Policy
Alpert A, Hsi H, Jacobson M
Evaluating the role of payment policy in driving vertical integration in the oncology market.
The researchers documented the increase in vertical integration in the market for cancer care in the period 2003-15, finding that the rate of hospital or health system ownership of practices doubled from about 30 percent to about 60 percent. They concluded that increased consolidation in the market for cancer care rather than being due to changes in Federal payment policies for chemotherapy drugs were instead part of a broader post-ACA trend toward integrated health care systems.
AHRQ-funded; HS022741.
Citation: Alpert A, Hsi H, Jacobson M .
Evaluating the role of payment policy in driving vertical integration in the oncology market.
Health Aff 2017 Apr;36(4):680-88. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0830.
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Keywords: Payment, Policy
Ouayogode MH, Colla CH, Lewis VA
Determinants of success in shared savings programs: an analysis of ACO and market characteristics.
This study examined Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and market factors associated with superior financial performance in Medicare ACO programs. No characteristic of organizational structure was significantly associated with both outcomes of savings per beneficiary and likelihood of achieving shared savings. ACO prior experience with risk-bearing contracts was positively correlated with savings and significantly increased the likelihood of receiving shared savings payments.
AHRQ-funded; HS024075.
Citation: Ouayogode MH, Colla CH, Lewis VA .
Determinants of success in shared savings programs: an analysis of ACO and market characteristics.
Healthc 2017 Mar;5(1-2):53-61. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2016.08.002.
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Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Payment, Policy, Medicare
Erickson KF, Winkelmayer WC, Chertow GM
Hemodialysis hospitalizations and readmissions: the effects of payment reform.
The researchers used a retrospective cohort interrupted time-series study design to examine whether the 2004 nephrologist reimbursement reform led to reduced hospitalizations and rehospitalizations. They found no significant change in all-cause hospitalization or rehospitalization and slight reductions in fluid overload hospitalization and rehospitalization following reimbursement reform.
AHRQ-funded; HS019178.
Citation: Erickson KF, Winkelmayer WC, Chertow GM .
Hemodialysis hospitalizations and readmissions: the effects of payment reform.
Am J Kidney Dis 2017 Feb;69(2):237-46. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2016.08.033.
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Keywords: Hospital Readmissions, Hospitalization, Kidney Disease and Health, Payment, Policy
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
