July 2018

For a set of common physician services, employer-sponsored Medicare Advantage plans are found to pay prices that are similar to traditional Medicare rates.

This study compared general practitioner–centered healthcare (Hausarztzentrierte Versorgung [HZV]) with non-HZV healthcare in Germany regarding the development of diabetes complications. HZV is associated with reduced risk of diabetes complications.

We examine utilization, quality, and expenditures among Medicare beneficiaries receiving care at federally qualified health centers and compare outcomes among those attributed to 1 of 3 recognition programs versus none.

The implementation of alternative payment models that successfully capture clinical heterogeneity—without adding unacceptable levels of administrative complexity—may be equally (if not more) important than site-neutral payment policies.

Spending on chemotherapy drugs was lower among Medicare beneficiaries who received chemotherapy in hospital outpatient departments than among comparable beneficiaries receiving chemotherapy in physician offices.

Socioeconomic status may significantly influence enrollee response to value-based benefit design approaches. Evaluating the association of wage status with claims experience may yield actionable insights.

Placement of patients in an inpatient hospital setting is associated with lower length of stay and mortality at the expense of higher costs.

A metric of primary care delivery by non–primary care provider clinicians demonstrated increasing trends in patient encounters by nurses and social workers and was responsive to patient-centered medical home implementation.

Experience with risk-based contracting best predicts active engagement of accountable care organizations in reducing low-value medical services, mainly through physician education and encouraging shared decision making.

Postdischarge engagement of at-risk Medicaid beneficiaries in 6 health plans resulted in significant reductions in hospital readmissions at rates proportional to the frequency of engagement.

This article compares clinical and utilization profiles of Medicare patients who are attributed to provider groups with those of patients unattributed to any provider group in accountable care organization models.