Dataset Information

Use of Breast Cancer Screening and Its Association with Later Use of Preventive Services among Medicare Beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT: Purpose To retrospectively assess whether there is an association between screening mammography and the use of a variety of preventive services in women who are enrolled in Medicare. Materials and Methods U.S. Medicare claims from 2010 to 2014 Research Identifiable Files were reviewed to retrospectively identify a group of women who underwent screening mammography and a control group without screening mammography in 2012. The screened group was divided into positive versus negative results at screening, and the positive subgroup was divided into false-positive and true-positive findings. Multivariate logistic regression models and inverse probability of treatment weighting were used to examine the relationship between screening status and the probabilities of undergoing Papanicolaou test, bone mass measurement, or influenza vaccination in the following 2 years. Results The cohort consisted of 555 705 patients, of whom 185 625 (33.4%) underwent mammography. After adjusting for patient demographics, comorbidities, geographic covariates, and baseline preventive care, women who underwent index screening mammography (with either positive or negative results) were more likely than unscreened women to later undergo Papanicolaou test (odds ratio [OR], 1.49; 95% confidence interval: 1.40, 1.58), bone mass measurement (OR, 1.70; 95% confidence interval: 1.63, 1.78), and influenza vaccine (OR, 1.45; 95% confidence interval: 1.37, 1.53). In women who had not undergone these preventive measures in the 2 years before screening mammography, use of these three services after false-positive findings at screening was no different than after true-negative findings at screening. Conclusion In beneficiaries of U.S. Medicare, use of screening mammography was associated with higher likelihood of adherence to other preventive guidelines, without a negative association between false-positive results and cervical cancer screening.

SUBMITTER: Kang SK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6122660 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Use of Breast Cancer Screening and Its Association with Later Use of Preventive Services among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Kang Stella K SK Jiang Miao M Duszak Richard R Heller Samantha L SL Hughes Danny R DR Moy Linda L

Radiology 20180605 3

Purpose To retrospectively assess whether there is an association between screening mammography and the use of a variety of preventive services in women who are enrolled in Medicare. Materials and Methods U.S. Medicare claims from 2010 to 2014 Research Identifiable Files were reviewed to retrospectively identify a group of women who underwent screening mammography and a control group without screening mammography in 2012. The screened group was divided into positive versus negative results at sc ...[more]

PMID: 29869958

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceThirty percent of Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Shared Savings Program (SSP) have exited within five years of joining. Absent the potential for shared savings, exiting ACOs may choose to divest from costly resources needed to support population health, worsening clinical quality for beneficiaries aligned to these organizations.ObjectiveTo examine the associations of SSP exit with clinical quality.Design setting and participantsBetween 2019 and 2020 we conducted a retrospective cohort study with national Medicare claims from a 20% random sample of beneficiaries. We identified 1,713,237 beneficiaries aligned with an SSP ACO at some point between 2012 and 2016. We distinguished between those for whom the ACO to which they were aligned exited the SSP and those whose ACO stayed in the program. Comparing exiting ACOs with those who stayed in the SSP, we evaluated changes in the quality of care that a beneficiary received before and after the aligned ACO exited the SSP. We also examined whether findings associated with exit varied with respect to the number of years after exit.ExposuresSSP exit and the number of years after exit.Main outcomes and measuresAnnual preventive care services receipt and hospital utilization.ResultsThe cohort of 1,713,237 individuals (mean [standard deviation] age at enrollment: 75.20 [7.96] years) included 998,511 (58.3%) female, 126,123 (7.4%) Black, and 1,482,823 white (86.6%) beneficiaries. SSP exit was associated with significantly lower rates of annual glycated hemoglobin testing (odds ratio [OR], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68 to 0.81), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol testing (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.97), and all diabetes complication screening (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.81 to 0.97), for beneficiaries with diabetes. The exit was not related to rates of hospital utilization, in terms of emergency department utilization and 30-day readmission after SSP exit. The associations with exit depended on the length of time since contracts end. For example, the baseline rate of annual glycated hemoglobin testing was 89.8% (95% CI, 89.5% to 90.1%) but fell to 86.9% (95% CI, 85.9% to 88.0%) and 86.8% (95% CI, 85.0% to 88.5%) in years 1 and 2 after exit, respectively, but it then rose to 91.9% (95% CI, 85.3% to 98.5%) in year 3.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries, SSP exit was associated with modest declines in clinical quality. These findings were timely given recent SSP changes that could accelerate program exit.

Project description:BackgroundThis systematic review is an update of evidence since the 2002 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation on breast cancer screening.PurposeTo determine the effectiveness of mammography screening in decreasing breast cancer mortality among average-risk women aged 40 to 49 years and 70 years or older, the effectiveness of clinical breast examination and breast self-examination, and the harms of screening.Data sourcesCochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (through the fourth quarter of 2008), MEDLINE (January 2001 to December 2008), reference lists, and Web of Science searches for published studies and Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium for screening mammography data.Study selectionRandomized, controlled trials with breast cancer mortality outcomes for screening effectiveness, and studies of various designs and multiple data sources for harms.Data extractionRelevant data were abstracted, and study quality was rated by using established criteria.Data synthesisMammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality by 15% for women aged 39 to 49 years (relative risk, 0.85 [95% credible interval, 0.75 to 0.96]; 8 trials). Data are lacking for women aged 70 years or older. Radiation exposure from mammography is low. Patient adverse experiences are common and transient and do not affect screening practices. Estimates of overdiagnosis vary from 1% to 10%. Younger women have more false-positive mammography results and additional imaging but fewer biopsies than older women. Trials of clinical breast examination are ongoing; trials for breast self-examination showed no reductions in mortality but increases in benign biopsy results.LimitationStudies of older women, digital mammography, and magnetic resonance imaging are lacking.ConclusionMammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality for women aged 39 to 69 years; data are insufficient for older women. False-positive mammography results and additional imaging are common. No benefit has been shown for clinical breast examination or breast self-examination.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:With no evidence to support extended radiation courses for the palliation of bone metastases, multiple guidelines were issued discouraging its use. We assessed contemporary use and cost of prolonged palliative radiotherapy in Medicare beneficiaries with bone metastases from breast cancer. METHODS:We conducted a retrospective, longitudinal study of palliative radiotherapy use among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with bone metastasis from breast cancer who underwent palliative radiotherapy during 2011 to 2014. Patients were categorized according to the number of days (fractions) on which they received palliative radiotherapy: 1, 2 to 10, 11 to 19, or 20 to 30. We examined the association of clinical, demographic, and provider characteristics with the use of extended (?11 fractions) or very extended (?20 fractions) fractionation with logistic regression models. We also compared the cost of different fractionation schemes from the payer perspective. RESULTS:Of the 7547 patients in the sample (mean age, 71?y), 3084 (40.8%) received extended fractionation. The proportion of patients receiving 11 to 19 (34.7% in 2011 and 28.1% in 2014, trend P<0.001) and 20 to 30 treatments (10.3% in 2011 to 9.0% in 2014, trend P=0.07) decreased modestly over time. Patients with comorbidities were less likely to undergo extended fractionation (34.4% for ?3 comorbidities vs. 44.9% for 0 comorbidities; adjusted odds ratio 0.67 [95% confidence interval, 0.58-0.76]). Patients treated at free-standing practices were more likely to undergo extended fractionation (47.9%) compared with those treated at hospital-based practices (37.3%, P<0.001; adjusted odds ratio, 1.49 [95% confidence interval, 1.35-1.65]). The mean cost of treatment varied from $633 (SD $240) for single-fraction treatment, to $3566 (SD $1349) for 11 to 19 fractions, to $6597 (SD $2893) for 20 to 30 fractions. CONCLUSION:The use of prolonged courses of palliative radiotherapy among Medicare beneficiaries with breast cancer remained high in 2011 to 2014. The association between free-standing facility status and use of extended fractionation suggests that provider financial incentives may impact choice of treatment.

Project description:ImportanceMedicare has historically imposed higher beneficiary coinsurance for behavioral health services than for medical and surgical care but gradually introduced parity between 2009 and 2014. Although Medicare insures many people with serious mental illness (SMI), there is limited information on the impact of coinsurance parity in this population.ObjectiveTo examine the association between coinsurance parity and outpatient behavioral health care use among low-income beneficiaries with SMI.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study used Medicare claims data for a 50% national sample of lower-income Medicare beneficiaries from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2016. The study sample included patients with SMI (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder). Data analysis was performed from August 1, 2018, to July 15, 2020.ExposuresReduction in behavioral health care coinsurance from 50% to 20% between January 1, 2009, and January 1, 2014.Main outcomes and measuresTotal annual spending for outpatient behavioral health care visits and the percentage of beneficiaries with an annual outpatient behavioral health care visit overall, with a prescriber, and with a psychiatrist. A difference-in-difference approach was used to compare outcomes before and after the reduction in coinsurance for beneficiaries with and without cost-sharing decreases. Linear regression models with beneficiary fixed effects that adjusted for time-changing beneficiary- and area-level covariates were used to examine changes in outcomes.ResultsThe study included 793 275 beneficiaries with SMI in 2008; 518 893 (65.4%) were younger than 65 years (mean [SD] age, 57.6 [16.1] years), 511 265 (64.4%) were female, and 552 056 (69.6%) were White. In 2008, the adjusted percentage of beneficiaries with an outpatient behavioral health care visit was 40.7% (95% CI, 40.4%-41.0%) among those eligible for the cost-sharing reduction and 44.9% (95% CI, 44.9%-45.0%) among those with free care. The mean adjusted out-of-pocket costs for outpatient behavioral health care visits decreased from $132 (95% CI, $129-$136) in 2008 to $64 (95% CI, $61-$66) in 2016 among those with reductions in cost-sharing. The adjusted percentage of beneficiaries with behavioral health care visits increased to 42.2% (95% CI, 41.9%-42.5%) in the group with a reduction in coinsurance and to 47.2% (95% CI, 47.0%-47.3%) in the group with free care. The cost-sharing reduction was not positively associated with visits (eg, relative change of -0.76 percentage points [95% CI, -1.12 to -0.40 percentage points] in the percentage of beneficiaries with outpatient behavioral health care visits in 2016 vs 2008).Conclusions and relevanceThis cohort study found that beneficiary costs for outpatient behavioral health care decreased between 2009 and 2014. There was no association between cost-sharing reductions and changes in behavioral health care visits. Low levels of use in this high-need population suggest the need for other policy efforts to address additional barriers to behavioral health care.

Dataset Information

Use of Breast Cancer Screening and Its Association with Later Use of Preventive Services among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Publications

Use of Breast Cancer Screening and Its Association with Later Use of Preventive Services among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure