New Medical Research Study Findings Reported from Georgetown University (Examining Drivers of Health Care Spending Evidence on Self-referral Among a…

New Medical Research Study Findings Reported from Georgetown University (Examining Drivers of Health Care Spending Evidence on Self-referral Among a Privately Insured Population)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Fresh data on Health and Medicine - Medical Research are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Washington, District of Columbia, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Despite the enactment of laws to restrict the practice of self-referral, exceptions in these prohibitions have enabled these arrangements to persist and proliferate. Most research documenting the effects of self-referral arrangements analyzed claims records from Medicare beneficiaries."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Georgetown University, "Empirical evidence documenting the effects of self-referral on use of services and spending incurred by persons with private insurance is sparse. We analyzed health insurance claims records from a large private insurer in Texas to evaluate the effects of physician self-referral arrangements involving physical therapy on the treatment of patients with frozen shoulder syndrome, elbow tendinopathy or tendinitis, and patellofemoral pain syndrome. We used regression analysis to evaluate the effects of episode self-referral status on: (1) initiation of physical therapy; (2) physical therapy visits and services for those who had at least 1 visit; and (3) total condition-related insurer allowed amounts per episode. For all 3 conditions, we found that patients treated by physician owners were much more likely to be referred for a course of physical therapy when compared with patients seen by physician nonowners. A consistent pattern emerged among patients who had at least 1 physical therapy visit; non-self-referred episodes included more physical therapy visits, and more physical therapy services per episode in comparison with episodes classified as self-referral. Most self-referred episodes were short and the initial visit did not include an evaluation."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Physician owners of physical therapy services refer significantly higher percentages of patients to physical therapy and many are equivocal cases."

For more information on this research see: Examining Drivers of Health Care Spending Evidence on Self-referral Among a Privately Insured Population. Medical Care, 2017;55(7):684-692. Medical Care can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Two Commerce Sq, 2001 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA. (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins - www.lww.com; Medical Care - journals.lww.com/lww-medicalcare/pages/default.aspx)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J.M. Mitchell, Georgetown University, McCourt Sch Public Policy, Washington, DC 20057, United States. Additional authors for this research include J.D. Reschovsky, R.J. Film and L. Franzini.

Keywords for this news article include: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America, Medical Research, Health and Medicine, Therapy, Georgetown University.

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