Posts Tagged ‘medicare’

In an effort to curb healthcare spending, some insurance companies have tried to increase copays for outpatient visits in an effort to decrease the overall rate of visits to the doctor’s office. However, a new study from Brown University published in the Jan. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is showing that this strategy has some unintended consequences. After looking at some Medicare managed care plans that implemented such copay hikes between 2001 to 2006, the researchers noted an increase in hospital usage. Although these plans had 19.8 fewer annual outpatient visits per enrollee, they consequently had 2.2 additional hospital admissions and 13.4 more inpatient days per 100 enrollees. And as we all know being hospitalized is PRICEY. The authors estimate that by increasing outpatient copays in the short term Medicare plans might save $7,150 per 100 enrollees, but inpatient spending would swell by $24,000 per 100 enrollees in the year after the co-payment increase, thus not really saving any money at all. [via Medline Plus]

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New legislation being introduced this week by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) aims to help patients with post-hospital needs. The bill, called the “Medicare Transitional Care Act”, would create a new Medicare benefit to coordinate care during a person’s transition from inpatient to outpatient settings. This includes assistance with equipment needs, referrals for care, scheduling needs, and even medication instruction assistance. The goal is to ensure smooth and successful transitions to home or living facility in order to avoid re-admission to the hospital. Statistics show that 20% of people with Medicare who visit the hospital will return within a month.

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Beginning January 2009 the US Medicare system will be offering bonuses to physicians who prescribe medications electronically.  Why the push? The most important reason is patient safety – no more indecipherable handwriting means less risk that your pharmacist will dole out the wrong prescription. Also, e-prescribing sends the prescription instantly, directly to the pharmacy, so scripts do not get lost or stolen. When e-prescribing, computers can remind docs about potential interactions amongst drugs, in addition to helping physicians choose the cheapest drugs which, in the end, saves the patient money. Only about 10 percent of US doctors are actively e-prescribing. This is due, in part, to the cost associated with setting up the necessary technology and apprehension about adopting new technology. However, the benefits are clear. Ever since I personally started e-prescribing, there’s just no going back to paper.

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