Are Fewer Physicians and Self-Service Health Care the Answer?
The Effect of Predictive Analytics-Driven Interventions on Healthcare Utilization
Among high-risk Medicare Advantage members with congestive heart failure, a proactive outreach program driven by a claims-based predictive algorithm reduced the likelihood of an emergency department (ED) or specialist visit in one year by 20% and 21%, respectively. The average number of visits dropped as well, with a 40% reduction in the volume of ED visits and a 27% reduction in the volume of cardiology visits after the first year.
Prompt Primary Care Linked to Fewer Rehospitalizations in Medicaid Patients
The Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers (of hotspotting fame) has published some intriguing findings from a city-wide program to reduce rehospitalizations by linking hospitalized Medicaid patients to primary care follow-up within seven days of discharge.
Report From the LDI Norman Wall Memorial Lecture
Twelve Penn Researchers Receive 2019 LDI Pilot Grants
Supply of Primary Care Providers and Appointment Availability for Philadelphia's Medicaid Population
Supply of Primary Care Providers and Appointment Availability for Philadelphia's Medicaid Population
This brief analyzes the supply of primary care providers serving the Medicaid population in Philadelphia, and the geographic variability of this measure across the city. It also examines important measures of access – appointment availability and wait time for an initial appointment – that highlight challenges faced by Medicaid patients.
Primary Care Access for Philadelphia’s Medicaid Population
Following Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania in 2015, more than one in five non-elderly adults in Philadelphia are now covered by Medicaid. This population faces unique challenges with accessing primary care, including fewer providers accepting Medicaid patients.
Ten Years Back and Ten Years Ahead: Innovation in Pediatric Primary Care
On October 22, policymakers, researchers, advocacy group representatives, physicians, and other experts will convene for CHOP PolicyLab's 10th anniversary forum: Charting New Frontiers in Children's Health Policy & Practice. Attendees will discuss the most pressing health issues facing children, adolescents, and families across the country. The post below from PolicyLab Faculty Member and LDI Sen
Trauma-Informed Care Training in Family Medicine Residency Programs Results From a CERA Survey
Melissa E. Dichter, Anne Teitelman, Heather Klusaritz, Douglas M. Maurer, Peter F. Cronholm,...
ABSTRACT [FROM JOURNAL]
Background and Objectives: Experiences of psychological trauma are common among primary care patient populations, and adversely affect patients’ health and health care utilization. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a framework for identifying and responding to patients’ experiences of psychological trauma to avoid retraumatization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current state of TIC training in family medicine residency programs in the United States in order to identify opportunities for and barriers to TIC training.
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Restricted Provider Choice in the ACA Marketplace
On November 1st, the sixth year of open enrollment on the ACA Marketplace will start. While the basic rules that govern the Marketplace and the sliding-scale subsidies remain intact, gains in enrollment are unlikely given the end of penalties for the individual mandate, the emergence of association health plans, and new rules related to “short-term limited duration.”
Reimbursement Rates for Primary Care Services: Evidence of Spillover Effects to Behavioral Health
Johanna Catherine Maclean, Chandler McClellan, Michael F. Pesko, Daniel Polsky
Abstract [from journal]
We study spillover effects of the largest ever increase in Medicaid primary care reimbursement rates on behavioral health and healthcare outcomes; mental illness, substance use disorders, and tobacco product use. Much of the variation in Medicaid reimbursement rates we leverage is attributable to a large federally mandated increase between 2013 and 2014 through the Affordable Care Act. We apply differences-in-differences models to survey data specifically designed to measure behavioral health outcomes over the period 2010 to 2016. We find that higher...
Acuity-Based Scheduling in Primary Care
ABSTRACT [FROM JOURNAL]
Objectives: Triage algorithms are ubiquitous in emergency care settings, but the extent of their use in primary care is unknown. This study asks whether primary care practices prioritize patients with more acute service needs.
Methods: We used an audit study in which simulated patients were randomized to 2 clinical scenarios—a new patient seeking a routine check-up or a new patient seeking treatment for newly diagnosed hypertension—and attempted to schedule appointments with thousands of randomly selected primary...
Modernizing Medicare Funding for Nurse Education
With policies rooted in the 1960s, it’s time to change how Medicare pays for nurse education. In a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective, LDI Senior Fellow Linda Aiken and colleagues present a compelling case for funding a new consortium model that trains nurse practitioners (NPs) in the community settings where they are a crucial source of primary care.
Chart of the Day: Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care
A new study in Health Affairs by Hilary Barnes, Matthew McHugh, and colleagues, demonstrates the increasingly important role nurse practitioners (NPs) have in primary care in the United States.
Integrated Behavioral Health Care in Family Medicine Residencies: A CERA Survey
Christine Jacobs, Jay A. Brieler, Joanne Salas, Renée M. Betancourt, Peter F. Cronholm
ABSTRACT [FROM JOURNAL]
Background and Objectives: Behavioral health integration (BHI) in primary care settings is critical to mental health care in the United States. Family medicine resident experience in BHI in family medicine residency (FMR) continuity clinics is essential preparation for practice. We surveyed FMR program directors to characterize the status of BHI in FMR training.
Methods: Using the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) 2017 survey, FMR program directors...