Dataset Information

Association of Medicaid Eligibility With Surgical Readmission Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is beginning to consider adjusting for social risk factors, such as dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, when evaluating hospital performance under value-based purchasing programs. It is unknown whether dual eligibility represents a unique domain of social risk or instead represents clinical risk unmeasured by variables available in traditional Medicare claims.

Objective

To assess how dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid is associated with risk-adjusted readmission rates after surgery.

Design, setting, and participants

A retrospective cohort study was conducted of 55 651 Medicare beneficiaries undergoing general, vascular, and gynecologic surgery at 62 hospitals in Michigan between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2016. Representative cohorts were derived from traditional Medicare claims (n?=?29?710) and the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (MSQC) clinical registry (n?=?25?941), which includes additional measures of clinical risk. Statistical analysis was conducted between April 10 and July 15, 2019. The association between dual eligibility and risk-adjusted 30-day readmission rates after surgery was compared between models inclusive and exclusive of additional measurements of clinical risk. The study also examined how dual eligibility is associated with hospital profiling using risk-adjusted readmission rates.

Exposures

Dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid.

Main outcomes and measures

Risk-adjusted all-cause 30-day readmission after surgery.

Results

There were a total of 3986 dual-eligible beneficiaries in the Medicare claims cohort (2554 women; mean [SD] age, 72.9 [6.9] years) and 1608 dual-eligible beneficiaries in the MSQC cohort (990 women; mean [SD] age, 72.9 [6.8] years). In both data sets, higher proportions of dual-eligible beneficiaries were younger, female, and nonwhite than Medicare-only beneficiaries (Medicare claims cohort: female, 2554 of 3986 [64.1%] vs 12?879 of 25?724 [50.1%]; nonwhite, 1225 of 3986 [30.7%] vs 2783 of 25?724 [10.8%]; MSQC cohort: female, 990 of 1608 [61.6%] vs 12?578 of 24?333 [51.7%]; nonwhite, 416 of 1608 [25.9%] vs 2176 of 24?333 [8.9%]). In the Medicare claims cohort, dual-eligible beneficiaries were more likely to be readmitted (15.5% [95% CI, 13.7%-17.3%]) than Medicare-only beneficiaries (13.3% [95% CI, 12.7%-13.9%]; difference, 2.2 percentage points [95% CI, 0.4-3.9 percentage points]). In the MSQC cohort, after adjustment for more granular measures of clinical risk, dual eligibility was not significantly associated with readmission (difference, 0.6 percentage points [95% CI, -1.0 to 2.2 percentage points]). In both the Medicare claims and MSQC cohorts, adding dual eligibility to risk-adjustment models had little association with hospital ranking using risk-adjusted readmission rates.

Conclusions and relevance

This study suggests that dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid may reflect unmeasured clinical risk of readmission in claims data. Policy makers should consider incorporating more robust measures of social risk into risk-adjustment models used by value-based purchasing programs.

SUBMITTER: Cher BAY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7287571 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Association of Medicaid Eligibility With Surgical Readmission Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Cher Benjamin A Y BAY Ryan Andrew M AM Hoffman Geoffrey J GJ Sheetz Kyle H KH

JAMA network open 20200601 6

<h4>Importance</h4>The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is beginning to consider adjusting for social risk factors, such as dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, when evaluating hospital performance under value-based purchasing programs. It is unknown whether dual eligibility represents a unique domain of social risk or instead represents clinical risk unmeasured by variables available in traditional Medicare claims.<h4>Objective</h4>To assess how dual eligibility for Medicare and ...[more]

PMID: 32520361

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Project description:ObjectiveTo determine whether black patients have higher odds of readmission than white patients after major surgery, and to ascertain whether these disparities are related to where black patients receive care.BackgroundRacial disparities are known to exist for many aspects of surgical care. However, it is unknown if disparities exist in readmissions after a surgical procedure, an area which is becoming a prime focus for clinical leaders and policymakers.MethodsUsing national Medicare data from 2007 to 2010, we examined 30-day readmissions for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, pulmonary lobectomy, endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colectomy, and hip replacement. The main outcome measure was risk-adjusted odds of all-cause 30-day readmission. We used multivariate logistic regression to determine if black patients had higher readmission rates than white patients, and if so, whether this effect was mediated by the hospitals at which patients received care, or by poverty.ResultsBlack patients had higher readmission rates than white patients (14.8% vs 12.8%, odds ratio [OR] 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-1.22; P < 0.001). Patients undergoing major surgery at minority-serving hospitals also had higher readmission rates (14.3% vs 12.8%, OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.09-1.19; P < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, black patients at minority-serving hospitals had the highest overall odds of readmissions (OR 1.34). White patients at minority-serving hospitals (OR 1.15) and black patients at non-minority-serving hospitals (OR 1.20) also had higher odds of readmission than the reference group of white patients at non-minority-serving hospitals. Racial disparities were mediated in part by poverty.ConclusionsAmong Medicare beneficiaries, black patients were more likely to be readmitted after hospitalization for surgical procedures. Since racial disparities in readmission rates are mediated both by patients' race and the hospital at which care is delivered, efforts at reducing disparities should focus not only on race-based measures but also on improving outcomes of care at minority-serving hospitals.

Project description:BackgroundPatients with dementia are frequently hospitalized and may face barriers in post-discharge care.ObjectiveTo determine whether patients with dementia have an increased risk of adverse outcomes following discharge.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SubjectsMedicare beneficiaries hospitalized in 2016.Main measuresCo-primary outcomes were mortality and readmission within 30 days of discharge. Multivariable logistic regression models were estimated to assess the risk of each outcome for patients with and without dementia accounting for demographics, comorbidities, frailty, hospitalization factors, and disposition.Key resultsThe cohort included 1,089,109 hospitalizations of which 211,698 (19.3%) were of patients with diagnosed dementia (median (IQR) age 83 (76-89); 61.5% female) and 886,411 were of patients without dementia (median (IQR) age 76 (79-83); 55.0% female). At 30 days following discharge, 5.7% of patients with dementia had died compared to 3.1% of patients without dementia (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.21; 95% CI 1.17 to 1.24). At 30 days following discharge, 17.7% of patients with dementia had been readmitted compared to 13.1% of patients without dementia (aOR 1.02; CI 1.002 to 1.04). Dementia was associated with an increased odds of readmission among patients discharged to the community (aOR 1.07, CI 1.05 to 1.09) but a decreased odds of readmission among patients discharge to nursing facilities (aOR 0.93, CI 0.90 to 0.95). Patients with dementia who were discharged to the community were more likely to be readmitted than those discharged to nursing facilities (18.9% vs 16.0%), and, when readmitted, were more likely to die during the readmission (20.7% vs 4.4%).ConclusionsDiagnosed dementia was associated with a substantially increased risk of mortality and a modestly increased risk of readmission within 30 days of discharge. Patients with dementia discharged to the community had particularly elevated risk of adverse outcomes indicating possible gaps in post-discharge services and caregiver support.

Project description:ImportanceMedicaid coverage loss can substantially compromise access to and affordability of health care for dual-eligible beneficiaries. The extent to which this population lost Medicaid coverage before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and the characteristics of beneficiaries more at risk for coverage loss are currently not well known.ObjectiveTo assess the loss of Medicaid coverage among dual-eligible beneficiaries before and during the first year of the PHE, and to examine beneficiary-level and plan-level factors associated with heightened likelihood of losing Medicaid.Design, setting, and participantsThis repeated cross-sectional study used national Medicare data to estimate annual rates of Medicaid loss among dual-eligible beneficiaries before (2015 to 2019) and during the PHE (2020). Individuals who were dual eligible for Medicare and Medicaid at the beginning of a given year and who continuously received low-income subsidies for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage were included in the sample. Multivariable regression models were used to examine beneficiary-level and plan-level factors associated with Medicaid loss. Data analyses were conducted between March 2023 and October 2023.ExposureOnset of PHE.Main outcomes and measuresLoss of Medicaid for at least 1 month within a year.ResultsSample included 56 172 736 dual-eligible beneficiary-years between 2015 and 2020. In 2020, most dual-eligible beneficiaries were aged over 65 years (5 984 420 [61.1%]), female (5 868 866 [59.9%]), non-Hispanic White (4 928 035 [50.3%]), full-benefit eligible (6 837 815 [69.8%]), and enrolled in traditional Medicare (5 343 537 [54.6%]). The adjusted proportion of dual-eligible beneficiaries losing Medicaid for at least 1 month increased from 6.6% in 2015 to 7.3% in 2019 and then dropped to 2.3% in 2020. Between 2015 and 2019, dual-eligible beneficiaries who were older (ages 55-64 years: -1.4%; 95% CI, -1.8% to -1.0%; ages 65-74 years: -2.0%; 95% CI, -2.5% to -1.5%; ages 75 and older: -4.5%; 95% CI, -5.0% to -4.0%), disabled (-0.8%; 95% CI, -1.1% to -0.6%), and in integrated care programs were less likely to lose Medicaid. In 2020, the disparities within each of these demographic groups narrowed significantly. Notably, while Black (0.6%; 95% CI, 0.2% to 0.9%) and Hispanic (0.7%; 95% CI, 0.3% to 1.2%) dual-eligible beneficiaries were more likely to lose Medicaid than their non-Hispanic White counterparts between 2015 and 2019, such gap was eliminated for Black beneficiaries and narrowed for Hispanic beneficiaries in 2020.Conclusions and relevanceDuring the PHE, Medicaid coverage loss declined significantly among dual-eligible beneficiaries, and disparities were mitigated across subgroups. As the PHE unwinds, it is crucial for policymakers to implement strategies to minimize Medicaid coverage disruptions and racial and ethnic disparities, especially given that loss of Medicaid was slightly increasing over time before the PHE.

Project description:Understanding whether and why there are racial disparities in readmissions has implications for efforts to reduce readmissions.To determine whether black patients have higher odds of readmission than white patients and whether these disparities are related to where black patients receive care.Using national Medicare data, we examined 30-day readmissions after hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (MI), congestive heart failure (CHF), and pneumonia. We categorized hospitals in the top decile of proportion of black patients as minority-serving. We determined the odds of readmission for black patients compared with white patients at minority-serving vs non-minority-serving hospitals.Medicare Provider Analysis Review files of more than 3.1 million Medicare fee-for-service recipients who were discharged from US hospitals in 2006-2008.Risk-adjusted odds of 30-day readmission.Overall, black patients had higher readmission rates than white patients (24.8% vs 22.6%, odds ratio [OR], 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.14; P < .001); patients from minority-serving hospitals had higher readmission rates than those from non-minority-serving hospitals (25.5% vs 22.0%, OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.20-1.27; P < .001). Among patients with acute MI and using white patients from non-minority-serving hospitals as the reference group (readmission rate 20.9%), black patients from minority-serving hospitals had the highest readmission rate (26.4%; OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.28-1.42), while white patients from minority-serving hospitals had a 24.6% readmission rate (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.18-1.29) and black patients from non-minority-serving hospitals had a 23.3% readmission rate (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.16-1.23; P < .001 for each); patterns were similar for CHF and pneumonia. The results were unchanged after adjusting for hospital characteristics including markers of caring for poor patients.Among elderly Medicare recipients, black patients were more likely to be readmitted after hospitalization for 3 common conditions, a gap that was related to both race and to the site where care was received.

Dataset Information

Association of Medicaid Eligibility With Surgical Readmission Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Importance

Objective

Design, setting, and participants

Exposures

Main outcomes and measures

Results

Conclusions and relevance

Publications

Association of Medicaid Eligibility With Surgical Readmission Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

Similar Datasets

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