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PubMed1996

The effect of insurance status on use of recombinant erythropoietin therapy among end-stage renal disease patients in three states.

Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) has been demonstrated to be effective in ameliorating anemia among persons with chronic renal failure, and is associated with improved functional status and quality of life. Access to rHuEPO has been examined by a variety of clinical, demographic, geographic, and facility characteristics. However, rHuEPO utilization based on insurance status has not been previously examined. All Medicare and Medicaid prevalent end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients receiving dialysis services in California, Georgia, and Michigan in December 1991 were identified using state and federal administrative program data. The population in each state was stratified by insurance status as follows: Medicare-entitled, Medicare/Medicaid dually entitled, and Medicaid-only entitled. Insurance coverage of the ESRD population by Medicaid, as either a primary or secondary payer, differed greatly by state. In December 1991, the proportion of Medicaid-only and Medicaid/Medicare dually eligible dialysis patients ranged, respectively, from 8% and 43% in California, to 3% and 26% in Michigan, and to 3% and 18% in Georgia. Compared with the Medicare-entitled population, the Medicaid/Medicare dually eligible and Medicaid-only populations disproportionately comprised women, black patients, and individuals younger than 20 years. Using Lee's two-stage binary logit model, dual-eligibility was found to be associated with an increased access to rHuEPO. Compared with their state-specific, dually eligible counterparts, the odds of receiving rHuEPO was lower for Medicare-entitled patients in California (odds ratio [OR], 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76,0.93) and Georgia (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.53,0.80), and lower for Medicaid-only patients in Georgia (OR, 0.02; 95% CI, 0.01,0.05) and Michigan (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.23,0.52). We hypothesize that the absence of substantial copayments associated with rHuEPO, approximately $1,000 per year for a portion of Medicare-entitled patients, resulted in increased access among the dually eligible ESRD population. Dosing of rHuEPO was associated primarily with patient hematocrit level (P < 0.0001) and was unrelated to insurance status. Regardless of insurance status, an unexpectedly large number of Medicare prevalent dialysis patients receiving rHuEPO in each state (31%, 42%, and 41% in California, Georgia, and Michigan, respectively) had hematocrit values lower than 0.28, indicating inadequate treatment of anemia. Eleven percent of all patients receiving rHuEPO in California and nearly 20% in Georgia and Michigan were deemed to be severely anemic (hematocrit < 0.25). The wide variability in access to rHuEPO among the Medicaid-only populations may be indicative of state-specific differences in Medicaid prior approval, copayments, and other drug restrictions. We conclude that the Medicaid-only ESRD population excluded from Medicare coverage is particularly vulnerable to cost-containment measures that focus on expensive technologies such as rHuEPO.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

[Role of hospital claims databases from care units for estimating thyroid cancer incidence in the Rhône-Alpes region of France].

BACKGROUND: Incidence measures are essentially based on the data collected by cancer registries. Hospital claims databases from care units (PMSI) can be used as a source of information for registries because they contain standard records of most cancer patients. Regarding thyroid cancer, we have evaluated the PMSI as a source of information for the Rhône-Alpes thyroid cancer registry and usefulness of PMSI as a tool for surveillance of thyroid cancer incidence. METHODS: Patients with incident thyroid cancer in 2002 were identified in the claims data of the Rhône-Alpes region using an algorithm based on DRG codes of thyroidectomy and on diagnosis codes of thyroid cancer in a principal or secondary position. The patients identified were compared to those in thyroid cancer registry of the Rhône-Alpes region regarding sex, age, ZIP code of residence, month of discharge and length of stay versus the diagnosis date. When the percentage of cases of claims data identified in the cancer registry and the percentage of cases of the cancer registry identified in claims data were obtained, the capture-recapture method was applied to estimate the number of missing cases and the total number of incident thyroid cancers in the region. RESULTS: 667 patients were identified in claims data while the cancer registry included 677 patients. 95.2% of patients identified in claims data were in the cancer registry and 82.3% of patients in the cancer registry were identified in claims data. Cases lacking in claims data mostly corresponded to micro-cancers which represented 41% of cases in the cancer registry. Regarding cancer above 1 cm, 92% of the cancer registry cases were identified in claims data. Sensitivity of combining information from cancer registry and claims data was 99.2%. Cases lacking in cancer registry, present in claims data base and considered as true cases after obtaining pathological confirmation represented 2% of the whole thyroid cancer population. CONCLUSION: Claims data obtained from anonymous regional or national bases can be helpful for checking the completeness of thyroid cancer registries and to provide a small amount of unknown cases. They can be considered an acceptable tool for surveillance of thyroid cancer incidence. The significance of the variations in incidence that could be observed from claims data remains to be evaluated in comparison with comparable data obtained from registries.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2003

Risk factors for physical assault. State-managed workers' compensation experience.

BACKGROUND: The estimation of incidence and evaluation of risk factors associated with nonfatal occupational assault injuries have rarely been documented in a statewide population context. A state-managed workers' compensation system can provide estimates of incidence of such injuries and allow evaluation of risk factors. METHODS: Using claims data from the state-managed West Virginia Workers' Compensation, the incidence rates of workplace injuries resulting from physical assault were estimated for the period 1997-1999. Data on potential risk factors were obtained from the claim-related electronic data files, and the risk associated with each factor was assessed using proportional injury ratios (PIRs). RESULTS: During the study period, 2122 compensated injuries were associated with workplace violence. The incidence of assault injuries was 108.2 cases per 100,000 employee years. Women sustained a higher incidence than men. Healthcare workers, public safety workers, and teachers accounted for almost 75% of all assault injuries. Workers in these occupations also differed from each other with regard to seasonality and timing of assault, perpetrator-victim relationship, and types of injury. Evidence of gender-occupation interaction indicated higher risk of assault injury in men compared to women across the three leading occupations. Nighttime work shifts were associated with greater risk of assault for female healthcare workers (PIR=1.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-2.87). CONCLUSIONS: The healthcare sector sustained the bulk of assault injuries in West Virginia. Although the majority of healthcare-sector employees were women, the risk of assault injuries was higher in male employees. Risk factors and injury characteristics identified in this study, particularly for three high-risk occupations, should help develop strategies for preventing workplace violence. Protecting female healthcare workers on night-shift duty, especially in nursing home settings, appears to be an important target for intervention.

Female↗
PubMed1997

A comparison of ambulatory care and selected procedure rates in the health care systems of the Province of Manitoba, Canada; Kaiser Permanente Health Maintenance Organization; and the United States.

To determine if there are differences in physician services in different health care systems, we compared ambulatory visit rates and procedure rates for three surgical procedures in the province of Manitoba, Canada; Kaiser Permanente Health Maintenance Organization; and the United States. The KP system, with its single payer and low financial barriers, is not unlike the Canadian system. But, for most of the United States, the primary payment mechanism is fee-for-service, with the patient paying a significant amount, thereby militating against preventive and early primary care. Manitoba and KP data were extracted from computerized administrative records. U.S. data were obtained from publicly available reports. Manitoba provides 1.8 times and KP 1.2 times (1.4 when allied health visits are included) as many primary care physician visits as the United States. For the surgical procedures studied, U.S. rates were higher than those in either the KP HMO or in Manitoba. We conclude that (1) the U.S. system leads to more surgical intervention, and (2) removal of financial barriers leads to higher use of primary care services where more preventive and ameliorative care can occur.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed2002

The Closed Claims Project. Has it influenced anesthetic practice and outcome?

Although there are intrinsic limitations in the analysis of closed malpractice claims, the Closed Claims Project has identified important anesthetic complications and mechanisms of injury and stimulated research in problem areas. The decrease in severity of injury in anesthesia malpractice claims suggests that anesthesia safety has improved since the establishment of monitoring standards using pulse oximetry and end-tidal capnography.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed2000

Strategies for improving comorbidity measures based on Medicare and Medicaid claims data.

Claims-based measures of comorbid illness severity have generally relied on the diagnoses listed for a single hospitalization. Unfortunately, such diagnostic information is often limited because patients have not been hospitalized during periods of interest, because of incomplete coding of diagnoses on claims forms, or because listed diagnoses represent complications of the hospitalization rather than pre-existing comorbid conditions. To address these limitations, we developed and tested four comorbidity index scores for patients with breast cancer, each based on different sources of health services claims from Medicare and Medicaid: hospitalization for breast cancer surgery; outpatient care prior to the hospitalization; other inpatient care prior to the hospitalization; and all sources combined. Varying the number and type of sources of diagnostic information yielded only very small improvements in the prediction of mortality at 1 and 3 years. Surprisingly, even simpler measures of comorbidity (crude number of diagnoses) and of prior health care utilization (total days spent in the hospital) performed at least as well in predicting mortality as did the more complex index scores which assigned points and weights for specific conditions. The greatest improvement in explanatory power was observed when another source of clinical information (cancer stage derived from a population-based cancer registry) was used to supplement claims information. Expanding the source of claims diagnoses and focusing on time periods prior to an index hospitalization are insufficient for substantially improving the explanatory power of claims-based comorbidity indices. Other improvements suggested by our results should include: increasing the completeness and accuracy of claims diagnoses; supplementing diagnoses with health care utilization information in claims data; and supplementing claims data with other sources of clinical information.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Method of correction to assess the number of hospitalized incident breast cancer cases based on claims databases.

Estimations of the number of hospitalized incident cancer cases show biases when claims databases are used. This is due to false reports of incident cancer because of a lack of specificity, and because of unrecorded cancers resulting from a lack of sensitivity. We present a statistical method to provide corrected estimations. This method is based on a two-phase study design using an external data set for sensitivity and specificity estimates. Inaccuracy of the corrected number of hospitalized incident cancer cases was assessed by a credibility interval determined by a Bayesian approach using a Monte Carlo method. Based on the population hospitalized in a large group of French University hospitals, 334 women were identified in the French claims database as having potential incident cases of breast cancer in 1997. According to our method, the corrected number was 565 (550-580). In absence of hospital-based cancer registries, our approach provides estimates and credibility intervals, and has many potential applications in defining hospital policies with its applicability to other diseases.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2003

Using Medicare claims to identify second primary cancers and recurrences in order to supplement a cancer registry.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to use Medicare claims to develop models to assist cancer registries in identifying cancer patients with second primaries or recurrences (an "event"). METHODS: Medicare inpatient and Part B data were merged with a cancer registry for patients first diagnosed in 1993-1994. Logistic regression was used to model the occurrence of an event at least 1 year after initial diagnosis, and to identify factors that could discriminate between recurrences and second primaries. RESULTS: Predictors of an event included an inpatient cancer diagnosis, cancer diagnosis different from the initial diagnosis from any source, and radiation or surgery claims in Part B. The ROC curve area was 0.90 with all Medicare data; 0.84 when restricted to inpatient data. A cancer diagnosis different from the initial diagnosis or having surgery predicted a second primary; regional or distant stage disease, diagnosis of secondary malignancy, or an inpatient diagnosis of primary cancer in a position other than principal predicted recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Although Medicare claims have not been evaluated as a stand-alone system to identify second primaries and recurrences, Medicare claims may be useful tools for Cancer Registries in case ascertainment and follow-up.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Dementia in community-dwelling elderly patients: A comparison of survey data, medicare claims, cognitive screening, reported symptoms, and activity limitations.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Population-based estimates of dementia can vary widely depending on the data source and methodology used to assess cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to assess individual and composite measures of dementia constructed using survey and administratively collected medical data for the purpose of improving insight into inherent and avoidable biases and the interpretation of these measures. METHODS: A national survey of 5089 community-dwelling elderly persons was linked to 5 years of Medicare claims. Kappa coefficients were used to assess dementia agreement between survey, cognitive screen, and claims. Odds ratios (ORs), adjusted for age, gender, and education, were computed to assess the relation of single- and multi-source dementia variables to cognitive symptoms and activity limitations. RESULTS: Dementia prevalence among persons aged 65 and over ranged from 4.5% to 16.8% across sources. Agreement in case identification between data sources was low, ranging from 0.15 to 0.41. Despite low agreement, ORs were consistently increased for limitations in cognitively related activities/symptoms and non-overlapping dementia sources. CONCLUSION: The finding that non-overlapping dementia data sources are associated with significantly increased limitations in cognitive activities suggests that forecasts of national dementia-related resource use based on single-source data could produce serious underestimates of future need.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1998

Randomized database studies: a new method to assess drugs' effectiveness?

The need to evaluate drugs' effects in real clinical practice is increasingly important. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and database analyses (DBA) are the two main methods to assess treatments effectiveness. RCTs remain the "gold standard" for comparing alternative treatments. However, they are conducted under strict, protocol-driven conditions that may limit their generalizability. Advantages of new high quality clinical databases, on the other hand, include the simple and economic access to large number and range of cases, and the ability to capture all aspects of actual medical practice. The main potential limitation of DBA is the potential for comparison bias due to the lack of randomization. Despite the efforts to design naturalistic trials and to use sophisticated statistical techniques to minimize selection bias, the inherent limitations of both methods (problems of external and internal validity, respectively) have not been completely solved. Thus, the actual challenge is the development of some new strategy capable of generating results with an acceptable balance between internal and external validity. As randomization is essential to minimize comparison bias, we point out the possibility to include randomization modules in computer-based patient records. The theoretical foundation of these "randomized database studies" is the simultaneous use of both experimental and observational methods in the assessment of drugs' effectiveness. The progressive standardization of clinical practice and the development and adoption of improved computer-based patient records could facilitate the use of this new research strategy.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMed1998

Medical-claims databases in the design of a health-outcomes comparison of quetiapine ('Seroquel') and usual-care antipsychotic medication.

Treating schizophrenia is expensive. Preventing rehospitalization of patients with schizophrenia provides an attractive opportunity for cost savings, especially for patients with 'revolving-door' or multiple-episode schizophrenia. Reducing the occurrence of extrapyramidal symptoms and other adverse events associated with standard antipsychotic agents may increase compliance and reduce the rate of rehospitalization of patients with schizophrenia. Quetiapine ('Seroquel', ICI 204,636, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals) is a new dibenzothiazepine antipsychotic agent with a low propensity for extrapyramidal symptoms. We describe here a unique methodology to compare quetiapine with usual-care medications in real-world treatment settings. The trial objective is to determine if therapy with this new atypical antipsychotic agent can reduce the rate of rehospitalization and, therefore, treatment costs. Using two secondary medical-claims databases, we defined the minimal threshold for revolving-door status as 1.0 admission per year; this definition allows our trial to focus on the subpopulation of schizophrenic patients with the greatest potential for cost savings by either the new atypical antipsychotic quetiapine or usual-care therapy. We describe here the approach used in our trial.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Systematic screening of secondary diagnoses in Medicare administrative data to identify candidate risk factors for the principal diagnosis.

PURPOSE: Secondary diagnoses in Medicare hospital discharge claims may include risk factors for the principal diagnosis. However, risk ratios for the principal diagnosis as a function of secondary diagnoses cannot be calculated because no comparable data exist for beneficiaries who are not hospitalized. METHODS: Hospital discharge rates, as proxies for incidence rates, can be calculated by race and sex from Medicare claims and denominator files. If the prevalence of a risk factor is higher in one population group than another, that risk factor will be overrepresented among patients from the group at higher risk. RESULTS: This imbalance is reflected in what is termed the odds difference, OD=[(r+r')/r][f(2)/(1- f(2))-f(1)/(1-f(1))], in which r is the background incidence rate, and r' is the additional risk conferred by a factor that is present in fractions f(1) and f(2) in the two groups. Unlike the risk ratio, the odds difference can be calculated from claims data. Given f(1) and f(2), the odds difference is directly proportional to the risk ratio, RR=(r+r')/r. CONCLUSIONS: Ranking common secondary diagnoses by the magnitude of their odds difference between groups with disparate discharge rates for a given principal diagnosis may disclose secondary diagnoses that merit evaluation as candidate direct or indirect risk factors.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

A case-control study of prosthetic implants and selected chronic diseases in Medicare claims data.

PURPOSE: In an exploratory case-control study of a private insurance-claims database, Greenland and Finkle (Ann Epidemiol. 1996;6:530-540) observed associations of certain prosthetic nonbreast implants with certain connective-tissue and neurologic conditions. We wished to test these associations using the same design with new data. METHODS: We examined these associations in a case-control analysis of Medicare claims data. To control for possible confounding effects of surgery, our analysis examined nonimplant surgeries of severity similar to implant surgeries. RESULTS: We again found associations of silicone and metal implants with connective-tissue and neurologic conditions, but we also found similar associations of carpal-tunnel surgery with those conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Possible explanations for these findings include confounding by presurgical conditions. Therefore, we recommend further studies be done in which such conditions can be measured and controlled.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Observational study of the effects of using montelukast vs fluticasone in patients matched at baseline.

BACKGROUND: The relative effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroids and leukotriene receptor antagonists in asthma therapy continues to be the subject of clinical studies. Recent studies have examined the impact of these therapies using a retrospective design. Retrospective studies require special attention to nonrandom assignment of participants to treatment groups and, consequently, to the need to appropriately account for baseline differences. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relative effectiveness of montelukast sodium vs fluticasone propionate as controller monotherapy in patients with asthma. METHODS: A retrospective cohort analysis of claims data from 6,160 individuals continuously enrolled in 1 of 20 US managed care plans. Patients using fluticasone were matched to those treated with montelukast using propensity scores and age (2-55 years). Health care use was determined for the 12-month periods before and after the initial controller prescription. Outcomes included asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits, along with use of oral corticosteroids and short-acting beta-agonists. Logistic regression analyses were also performed. RESULTS: Overall, controller therapy significantly reduced the odds of postindex asthma-related hospitalizations (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.38-0.79); no significant difference was observed with asthma-related emergency department visits (odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.76-1.04). Differences in the relative effect in the montelukast and fluticasone groups were not observed. Similarly, increases in the postindex rate of short-acting beta-agonist use and increases in oral corticosteroid use for both montelukast and fluticasone patients were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Similar outcomes were observed in montelukast and fluticasone users in this matched cohort analysis.

Acetates↗
PubMed2002

High-risk teen compliance with prescription contraception: an analysis of Ohio Medicaid claims.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study examines utilization of and compliance with prescription contraception by adolescents. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort analysis of billing and pharmacy claims. SETTING: Ohio Medicaid fee-for-service enrollees. PARTICIPANTS: Claims data of 12- to 19-year-olds identified at high risk for pregnancy by sexually related service billing or procedure code. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Prescription contraception use and compliance patterns were examined over a 12-month study period. RESULTS: During a 6-month enrollment period, 3338 females were identified at risk for pregnancy. Over one-fourth (920) became pregnant. Across the 12-month follow-up, 40% (1328) used no prescription contraception and 33% (1090) used some prescribed contraceptive. Most teens used injectable medroxyprogesterone (517) or oral contraceptive pills (492). About 20% of those using any type of prescribed contraceptive were compliant for the full year; less than 30% used a method for 3 months or less. Whites were more compliant with contraception than nonwhites. Younger age and concurrent mental health condition were also predictors of noncompliance. CONCLUSIONS: Teens at risk for pregnancy demonstrated poor compliance with prescribed contraceptives. Billing/pharmacy claims analysis is a useful tool for identifying teens at risk for pregnancy in order to target and evaluate interventions or to benchmark care provided to adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of postoperative epidural analgesia on morbidity and mortality after total hip replacement surgery in medicare patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The effect of postoperative epidural analgesia (vs. systemic analgesia) on patient outcomes is unclear. Available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have focused on the intraoperative period and not properly examined the effect of postoperative epidural analgesia (EA) on outcomes. METHODS: A 5% nationally random sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 1994 to 1999 was analyzed to identify patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (Common Procedural Terminology [CPT] code 27130, 27132, 27134, 27137, 27138). Patients were divided into 2 groups depending on the presence or absence of postoperative EA based on the CPT coding (01996). The rate of major morbidity (acute myocardial infarction, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, angina, respiratory failure, heart failure, cardiac dysrhythmias, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, sepsis, acute renal failure, paralytic ileus, acute cerebrovascular event) and death at 7 and 30 days after the procedure were compared. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine if the presence of postoperative (EA) had an independent effect on mortality or major morbidity. Data were reported as an odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals (CI) when appropriate. RESULTS: The unadjusted 7- and 30-day death rate was significantly lower for EA versus no EA (1.9/1000 [95% CI: 0.2-3.6] vs. 3.9/1000 [95% CI: 3.0-6.2] at 7 days [P =.04] and 5.8/1000 [95% CI: 2.9-8.7] vs. 9.9/1000 [95% CI: 8.6-11.3] at 30 days [P = 0.01]). However, multivariate regression analysis revealed that there was no difference between the groups with regard to mortality or major morbidity with the exception of an increase in deep venous thrombosis in patients who received EA. CONCLUSIONS: The use of postoperative EA was not associated a lower incidence of mortality and major morbidity in Medicare patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. However, the results should be interpreted with caution because of limitations in using the Medicare claims data for analysis. Further trials using other properly conducted and designed studies (e.g., RCTs) would be ideal to validate these results.

Aged↗