Recent Studies from Veterans Affairs Medical Center Add New Data to Medicare and Medicaid (Survey of US Practitioners on the Validity of the Medicare…

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Recent Studies from Veterans Affairs Medical Center Add New Data to Medicare and Medicaid (Survey of US Practitioners on the Validity of the Medicare Functional Classification Level System and Utility of Clinical Outcome Measures for Aiding ...)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Fresh data on Medicare and Medicaid are presented in a new report. According to news reporting out of Chicago, Illinois, by VerticalNews editors, research stated, "To characterize the opinion of the prosthetic clinical care community on the Medicare Functional Classification Level (K-level) assignment process to classify the mobility and rehabilitation potential of persons with lower-limb loss, including limitations and practicalities involved with the integration of outcome measures (OMs) into the clinical practice framework for K-level assignment. Survey. English online questionnaire with built-in logic."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Veterans Affairs Medical Center, "Volunteer sample of prosthetics practitioners (N=236). Data were analyzed only for U.S. practitioners (n=213). Not applicable. Subjective responses to 19 multiple choice, Likert scale, and open-ended questions. Forty-seven percent of respondents indicated that they were the sole determinant in the K-level assignment process, while 43% indicated that it was a collaborative process with other health care professionals. Sixty-nine percent of respondents reported using standardized OMs to assist in K-level assignment, and most did not agree that commonly reported barriers to implementation (eg, lack of time and training) were relevant. Sixty-seven percent of respondents did not believe the K-level system can accurately assign a level of rehabilitation potential, with 75% agreeing that incorporating OMs into clinical practice would enhance objectivity of the K-level assignment process. The results suggest that most prosthetics practitioners are involved in the K-level assignment at some level, and most agreed that there are considerable limitations with this system."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "To address these issues, many practitioners are using OMs to assess various aspects of patient mobility and rehabilitation potential, and minimize the subjectivity of the assignment process."

For more information on this research see: Survey of US Practitioners on the Validity of the Medicare Functional Classification Level System and Utility of Clinical Outcome Measures for Aiding K-Level Assignment. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2016;97(7):1053-1063. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation can be contacted at: W B Saunders Co-Elsevier Inc, 1600 John F Kennedy Boulevard, Ste 1800, Philadelphia, PA 19103-2899, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - www.journals.elsevier.com/archives-of-physical-medicine-and-rehabilitation/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting D. Borrenpohl, Jesse Brown VA Med Center, Chicago, IL, United States. Additional authors for this research include B. Kaluf and M.J. Major.

Keywords for this news article include: Chicago, Illinois, United States, North and Central America, Medicare and Medicaid, Health Policy, Medicare, Veterans Affairs Medical Center.