Reports Outline Clinical Trials and Studies Study Findings from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Insurance Transitions and Changes in Physician…

Reports Outline Clinical Trials and Studies Study Findings from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Insurance Transitions and Changes in Physician and Emergency Department Utilization: An Observational Study)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Clinical Trials Week -- Investigators publish new report on Clinical Research - Clinical Trials and Studies. According to news reporting from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "Shopping for health insurance is encouraged as a way to find the most affordable coverage that best meets an enrollee's needs. However, the extent to which individuals switch insurance and subsequent changes in health care utilization that might arise, particularly new physician visits, are not well understood."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, "To examine the relationship between insurance switching and new physician and emergency department visits around the time of a switch. Observational study using a difference-in-differences design to compare those switching insurance carriers with propensity score-matched controls who did not switch, stratified based on whether individuals initially had private or Medicaid insurance coverage. All analyses adjusted for individual and insurance characteristics. Continuously insured, non-elderly individuals with private or Medicaid insurance coverage in Massachusetts from 2010 to 2013. Rates of new primary care and specialist physician visits, as well as rates of emergency department visits. Before matching, among 1,628,057 continuously insured individuals, 418,231 (26%) switched insurance carriers during a 2-year period. Characteristics of switchers and non-switchers were similar after matching (n = 316,343 in each group). After matching, switching plans was associated with a 203% and 47.5% increase in the rate of new primary care physician visits following switching for those initially with Medicaid or private coverage, respectively (both p< 0.001), with a large short-term increase, diminishing over time. Among those with Medicaid coverage, switching was associated with a 14.9% higher rate of ED visits during the month of switching (p < 0.001), but otherwise decreased modestly after switching. Insurance switching is common, and is associated with increased new physician visits and temporarily increased ED use among the publicly insured."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "As insurance markets become more volatile in the current policy environment, understanding changes in utilization after insurance switching may become increasingly important."

For more information on this research see: Insurance Transitions and Changes in Physician and Emergency Department Utilization: An Observational Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2017;32(10):1146-1155. Journal of General Internal Medicine can be contacted at: Springer, 233 Spring St, New York, NY 10013, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - www.wiley.com/; Journal of General Internal Medicine - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1525-1497)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting B.E. Landon, Beth Israel Deaconess Med Center, Div Gen Med & Primary Care, Boston, MA 02215, United States. Additional authors for this research include Z.R. Song, S. Rose, A. Bitton, M.E. Chernew and M.L. Barnett (see also Clinical Research - Clinical Trials and Studies).

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-017-4072-4. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Boston, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America, Clinical Trials and Studies, Clinical Research, Health Policy, Medicaid, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

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