Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: Early Hospice Discharges Turn Profits; Integrating Mental Health Care
Health Affairs: A Positive Association Between Hospice Profit Margin And The Rate At Which Patients Are Discharged Before Death
Although certain live discharges are consistent with high-quality care, regulators have expressed concern that some hospices’ desire to maximize profits drives them to inappropriately discharge patients... Adjusted analyses showed positive and significant associations between both operating and total margins and hospice-level rates of live discharge: One-unit increases in operating and total margin were associated with increases of 3 percent and 4 percent in expected hospice-level live discharge rates, respectively. (Dolin et al., 7/1)
Health Affairs: Medicare Advantage Associated With More Racial Disparity Than Traditional Medicare For Hospital Readmissions
We compared racial disparities in thirty-day readmissions between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who underwent one of six major surgeries in New York State in 2013. We found that Medicare Advantage was associated with greater racial disparity, compared to traditional Medicare. After controlling for patient, hospital, and geographic characteristics in a propensity score based approach, we found that in traditional Medicare, black patients were 33 percent more likely than white patients to be readmitted, whereas in Medicare Advantage, black patients were 64 percent more likely than white patients to be readmitted. (Li et al., 7/1)
RAND: Possible Legal Barriers For PCP Access To Mental Health Treatment Records
Provider and payer groups have endorsed the goal of improving the integration of primary care and behavioral health across a variety of programs and settings... Preliminary investigation found that in almost one third of the states (including large-population states such as Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas), primary care physicians (PCPs) may have difficulty accessing mental health treatment records without the patient's (or his/her guardian/conservator's) written consent. If a comprehensive legal analysis supports this conclusion, then those advocating integration of behavioral and primary care may need to consider seeking appropriate state legislative solutions. (Rothenberg et al., 7/19)
New England Journal of Medicine: Implementation Of Medical Homes In Federally Qualified Health Centers
We examined the achievement of medical-home recognition and used Medicare claims and beneficiary surveys to measure utilization of services, quality of care, patients’ experiences, and Medicare expenditures in demonstration sites versus comparison sites... Demonstration sites had higher rates of medical-home recognition and smaller decreases in the number of patients’ visits to federally qualified health centers than did comparison sites, findings that may reflect better access to primary care relative to comparison sites. (Timbie et al., 7/20)
