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Rising Use Of Observation Care Among The Commercially Insured May Lead to Total And Out-Of-Pocket Cost Savings.
- Source :
-
Health Affairs . Dec2017, Vol. 36 Issue 12, p2102-2109. 8p. - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Proponents of hospital-based observation care argue that it has the potential to reduce health care spending and lengths-of-stay, compared to short-stay inpatient hospitalizations. However, critics have raised concerns about the out-of-pocket spending associated with observation care. Recent reports of high out-of-pocket spending among Medicare beneficiaries have received considerable media attention and have prompted direct policy changes. Despite the potential for changed policies to indirectly affect non-Medicare patients, little is known about the use of, and spending associated with, observation care among commercially insured populations. Using multipayer commercial claims for the period 2009-13, we evaluated utilization and spending among patients admitted for six conditions that are commonly managed with either observation care or short-stay hospitalizations. In our study period, the use of observation care increased relative to that of short-stay hospitalizations. Total and out-of-pocket spending were substantially lower for observation care, though both grew rapidly--and at rates much higher than spending in the inpatient setting--over the study period. Despite this growth, spending on observation care is unlikely to exceed spending for short-stay hospitalizations. As observation care attracts greater attention, policy makers should be aware that Medicare policies that disincentivize observation may have unintended financial impacts on non-Medicare populations, where observation care may be cost saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *TREATMENT of abdominal pain
*ARRHYTHMIA treatment
*CHEST pain treatment
*HEADACHE treatment
*SYNCOPE
*COMPARATIVE studies
*CONFIDENCE intervals
*HOSPITAL care
*LENGTH of stay in hospitals
*INSURANCE companies
*HEALTH insurance
*MEDICAL care costs
*REGRESSION analysis
*RESEARCH funding
*HOSPITAL observation units
*HEALTH insurance reimbursement
*DATA analysis software
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*THERAPEUTICS
*ECONOMICS
INFECTION treatment
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02782715
- Volume :
- 36
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Health Affairs
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 126780661
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0774