Volume 50 | Number 5 | October 2015

Abstract List

Camille Chicklis B.A., Thomas MaCurdy B.A., Ph.D., Jay Bhattacharya M.D., Ph.D., Jason Shafrin Ph.D., B.S., B.A., Sajid Zaidi B.A., Daniel Rogers B.A.


Objective

To determine if regions with high Medicare expenditures in a given setting remain high cost over time.


Data Sources/Study Setting

One hundred percent of national Medicare Parts A and B fee‐for‐service beneficiary claims data and enrollment for 1992–2010.


Study Design

Patients are classified into regions. Claims are price‐standardized. Risk adjustment is performed at the beneficiary level using the Hierarchical Condition Categories model. Correlation analyses are conducted.


Data Collection/Extraction Methods

The data were obtained through a contract with for a study performed for the Institute of Medicine.


Principal Findings

High‐cost regions in 1992 are likely to remain high cost in 2010. Stability in regional spending is highest in the home health, inpatient hospital, and outpatient hospital settings over this time period. Despite the persistence of a region's relative spending over time, a region's spending levels in all settings except home health tend to regress toward the mean.


Conclusions

Relatively high‐cost regions tend to remain so over long periods of time, even after controlling for patient health status and geographic price variation, suggesting that the observed effect reflects real differences in practice patterns.