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Managed-Medicare health club benefit and reduced health care costs among older adults.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:Our study was undertaken to determine the association between use of a health plan-sponsored health club benefit by older adults and total health care costs over 2 years. METHODS:This retrospective cohort study used administrative and claims data from a Medicare Advantage plan. Participants (n = 4766) were enrolled in the plan for at least 1 year before participating in the plan-sponsored health club benefit (Silver Sneakers). Controls (n = 9035) were matched to participants by age and sex according to the index date of Silver Sneakers enrollment. Multivariate regression models were used to estimate health care use and costs and to make subgroup comparisons according to frequency of health club visits. RESULTS:Compared with controls, Silver Sneakers participants were older and more likely to be male, used more preventive services, and had higher total health care costs at baseline. Adjusted total health care costs for Silver Sneakers participants and controls did not differ significantly in year 1. By year 2, compared with controls, Silver Sneakers participants had significantly fewer inpatient admissions (-2.3%, 95% confidence interval, -3.3% to -1.2%; P < .001) and lower total health care costs (-$500; 95% confidence interval, -$892 to -$106; P = .01]. Silver Sneakers participants who averaged at least two health club visits per week over 2 years incurred at least $1252 (95% confidence interval, -$1937 to -$567; P < .001) less in health care costs in year 2 than did those who visited on average less than once per week. CONCLUSION:Regular use of a health club benefit was associated with slower growth in total health care costs in the long term but not in the short term. These findings warrant additional prospective investigations to determine whether policies to offer health club benefits and promote physical activity among older adults can reduce increases in health care costs.

SUBMITTER: Nguyen HQ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2248797 | biostudies-other | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Managed-Medicare health club benefit and reduced health care costs among older adults.

Nguyen Huong Q HQ Ackermann Ronald T RT Maciejewski Matthew M Berke Ethan E Patrick Marsha M Williams Barbara B LoGerfo James P JP

Preventing chronic disease 20071215 1

<h4>Introduction</h4>Our study was undertaken to determine the association between use of a health plan-sponsored health club benefit by older adults and total health care costs over 2 years.<h4>Methods</h4>This retrospective cohort study used administrative and claims data from a Medicare Advantage plan. Participants (n = 4766) were enrolled in the plan for at least 1 year before participating in the plan-sponsored health club benefit (Silver Sneakers). Controls (n = 9035) were matched to parti ...[more]

PMID: 18082003

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Project description:ImportanceMore patients with cancer use hospice currently than ever before, but there are indications that care intensity outside of hospice is increasing, and length of hospice stay decreasing. Uncertainties regarding how hospice affects health care utilization and costs have hampered efforts to promote it.ObjectiveTo compare utilization and costs of health care for patients with poor-prognosis cancers enrolled in hospice vs similar patients without hospice care.Design, setting, and participantsMatched cohort study of patients in hospice and nonhospice care using a nationally representative 20% sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who died in 2011. Patients with poor-prognosis cancers (eg, brain, pancreatic, metastatic malignancies) enrolled in hospice before death were matched to similar patients who died without hospice care.ExposuresPeriod between hospice enrollment and death for hospice beneficiaries, and the equivalent period of nonhospice care before death for matched nonhospice patients.Main outcomes and measuresHealth care utilization including hospitalizations and procedures, place of death, cost trajectories before and after hospice start, and cumulative costs, all during the last year of life.ResultsAmong 86,851 patients with poor-prognosis cancers, median time from first poor-prognosis diagnosis to death was 13 months (interquartile range [IQR], 3-34), and 51,924 patients (60%) entered hospice before death. Matching yielded a cohort balanced on age, sex, region, time from poor-prognosis diagnosis to death, and baseline care utilization, with 18,165 patients in the hospice group and 18,165 in the nonhospice group. After matching, 11% of nonhospice and 1% of hospice beneficiaries who had cancer-directed therapy after exposure were excluded. Median hospice duration was 11 days. After exposure, nonhospice beneficiaries had significantly more hospitalizations (65% [95% CI, 64%-66%], vs hospice with 42% [95% CI, 42%-43%]; risk ratio, 1.5 [95% CI, 1.5-1.6]), intensive care (36% [95% CI, 35%-37%], vs hospice with 15% [95% CI, 14%-15%]; risk ratio, 2.4 [95% CI, 2.3-2.5]), and invasive procedures (51% [95% CI, 50%-52%], vs hospice with 27% [95% CI, 26%-27%]; risk ratio, 1.9 [95% CI, 1.9-2.0]), largely for acute conditions not directly related to cancer; and 74% (95% CI, 74%-75%) of nonhospice beneficiaries died in hospitals and nursing facilities compared with 14% (95% CI, 14%-15%) of hospice beneficiaries. Costs for hospice and nonhospice beneficiaries were not significantly different at baseline, but diverged after hospice start. Total costs over the last year of life were $71,517 (95% CI, $70,543-72,490) for nonhospice and $62,819 (95% CI, $62,082-63,557) for hospice, a statistically significant difference of $8697 (95% CI, $7560-$9835).Conclusions and relevanceIn this sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with poor-prognosis cancer, those receiving hospice care vs not (control), had significantly lower rates of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and invasive procedures at the end of life, along with significantly lower total costs during the last year of life.

Project description:ImportancePoor continuity of care may contribute to high health care spending and adverse patient outcomes in dementia.ObjectiveTo examine the association between medical clinician continuity and health care utilization, testing, and spending in older adults with dementia.Design, setting, and participantsThis was a study of an observational retrospective cohort from the 2012 national sample in fee-for-service Medicare, conducted from July to December 2015, using inverse probability weighted analysis. A total of 1 416 369 continuously enrolled, community-dwelling, fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries 65 years or older with a claims-based dementia diagnosis and at least 4 ambulatory visits in 2012 were included.ExposuresContinuity of care score measured on patient visits across physicians over 12 months. A higher continuity score is assigned to visit patterns in which a larger share of the patient's total visits are with fewer clinicians. Score range from 0 to 1 was examined in low-, medium-, and high-continuity tertiles.Main outcomes and measuresOutcomes include all-cause hospitalization, ambulatory care sensitive condition hospitalization, emergency department visit, imaging, and laboratory testing (computed tomographic [CT] scan of the head, chest radiography, urinalysis, and urine culture), and health care spending (overall, hospital and skilled nursing facility, and physician).ResultsBeneficiaries with dementia who had lower levels of continuity of care were younger, had a higher income, and had more comorbid medical conditions. Almost 50% of patients had at least 1 hospitalization and emergency department visit during the year. Utilization was lower with increasing level of continuity. Specifically comparing the highest- vs lowest-continuity groups, annual rates per beneficiary of hospitalization (0.83 vs 0.88), emergency department visits (0.84 vs 0.99), CT scan of the head (0.71 vs 0.83), urinalysis (0.72 vs 1.09), and health care spending (total spending, $22 004 vs $24 371) were higher with lower continuity even after accounting for sociodemographic factors and comorbidity burden (P < .001 for all comparisons). The rate of ambulatory care sensitive condition hospitalization was similar across continuity groups.Conclusions and relevanceAmong older fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with a dementia diagnosis, lower continuity of care is associated with higher rates of hospitalization, emergency department visits, testing, and health care spending. Further research into these relationships, including potentially relevant clinical, clinician, and systems factors, can inform whether improving continuity of care in this population may benefit patients and the wider health system.

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Managed-Medicare health club benefit and reduced health care costs among older adults.

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Managed-Medicare health club benefit and reduced health care costs among older adults.

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