National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
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1 to 4 of 4 Research Studies DisplayedAndino JJ, Zhu Z, Surapaneni M
Interstate telehealth use by Medicare beneficiaries before and after COVID-19 licensure waivers, 2017-20.
This study analyzed trends in interstate telehealth use by Medicaid beneficiaries during 2017-2020, which covers the period both directly before and during the first year of the pandemic. Although the volume of interstate telehealth use increased in 2020, out-of-state telehealth only made up 0.8% of all outpatient visits, and 5% of all telehealth visits overall. For individual states, out-of-state telehealth made up between 0.2-9.3% of all outpatient visits. Most out-of-state telehealth visits were used for established patient care, and a higher percentage of out-of-state telehealth users lived in rural areas compared with beneficiaries who stayed with in-state care (28% versus 23%).
AHRQ-funded; HS027632.
Citation: Andino JJ, Zhu Z, Surapaneni M .
Interstate telehealth use by Medicare beneficiaries before and after COVID-19 licensure waivers, 2017-20.
Health Aff 2022 Jun;41(6):838-45. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01825.
AHRQ-funded; HS027632..
AHRQ-funded; HS027632..
Keywords: Telehealth, COVID-19, Health Information Technology (HIT), Medicare, Healthcare Delivery
Behr CL, Joynt Maddox KE, Meara E
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody distribution to high-risk Medicare beneficiaries, 2020-2021.
The authors assessed how the limited supply of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) therapy was allocated to patients at highest risk of severe disease. They found that, among non-hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries with a COVID-19 diagnosis between November 2020 and August 2021, only 7.2% received mAb therapy. In many cases, patients at the highest risk of severe disease were the least likely to receive mAb therapy, with extreme variation geographically. Their analysis did not account for patient vaccination status or observed disease severity, which could influence clinicians’ decisions.
AHRQ-funded; HS024075.
Citation: Behr CL, Joynt Maddox KE, Meara E .
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody distribution to high-risk Medicare beneficiaries, 2020-2021.
JAMA 2022 Mar 8;327(10):980-83. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.1243..
Keywords: COVID-19, Medicare, Medication
Song Zhang, Zhang X, Patterson LJ
Racial and ethnic disparities in hospitalization outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This study assessed assess racial and ethnic differences in hospitalization outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic among Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare claims from the Social Security Administration was used to determine in-hospital mortality and mortality inclusive of discharges to hospice and discharges to postacute care. Over 31 million Medicare recipients in the database were analyzed with over 14 million hospitalizations from January 2019 to February 2021. There was a decline in non-COVID-19 and an emergence of COVID-19 hospitalizations among beneficiaries of different racial and ethnic minority groups through February 2021. In-hospital mortality was not significantly different among Black patients relative to White patients but was 3.5 percentage points higher among Hispanic patients and other racial and ethnic minority groups. There were disparities in discharges to hospice and postacute care as well.
AHRQ-funded; HS024072.
Citation: Song Zhang, Zhang X, Patterson LJ .
Racial and ethnic disparities in hospitalization outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAMA Health Forum 2021 Dec 23;2(12):e214223. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.4223..
Keywords: COVID-19, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Disparities, Medicare, Hospitalization, Outcomes, Mortality
Holaday LW, Balasuriya L, Roy B
Medicare beneficiaries' plans for the COVID-19 vaccine in Fall 2020, and why some planned to decline.
This study uses data from a survey of Medicare beneficiaries conducted in the fall of 2020 before the COVID-19 vaccine was approved to try and predict COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and decline rates. A cross-sectional analysis using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Fall COVID-19 Supplement was used to conduct telephone interviews administered by NORC at the University of Chicago. The analysis included 8,455 community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries, representative of 50.2 million people. Overall, 58.7% said they would get the vaccine, 15.3% said they would not, and 26.1% were unsure. Least likely to say they would get a vaccine were beneficiaries under 65 years old (48.8%), Black beneficiaries (36.2%) and Hispanic beneficiaries (50.5%). Reasons given for not planning to get vaccinated included 1) the vaccine could have side effects or is not safe (42.4%), 2) do not trust what the government says about the vaccine (42.4%), 3) do not think the vaccine would prevent COVID-19 (11.%), and 4) do not like vaccines or needles (8.2%). Black and Hispanic beneficiaries were more likely to say they were declining because they don’t trust the government than White beneficiaries. Younger beneficiaries were more likely to say the vaccine could cause COVID-19, and only 2% of respondents said they would decline the vaccine because COVID-19 is not serious. The latter group was disproportionately male (77.5%) and White (94.5%).
AHRQ-funded; HS022882; HS025164.
Citation: Holaday LW, Balasuriya L, Roy B .
Medicare beneficiaries' plans for the COVID-19 vaccine in Fall 2020, and why some planned to decline.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2021 Sep;69(9):2434-37. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17285..
Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccination, Medicare