Reports Summarize Managed Care Findings from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use Following Hospital Discharge Among Medicare Beneficiaries): Managed Care

2026 SEP 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Managed Care. According to news reporting out of Little Rock, Arkansas, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older are susceptible to receiving potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), for which the risks outweigh the benefits. Unlike stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans serving traditional Medicare ™ beneficiaries, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have a financial incentive to improve transitional care following hospitalization and reduce PIM use in order to avoid costly adverse drug events.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, “This study examined how changes in PIM use following hospitalization differed between TM and MA. This observational study analyzed nationwide Medicare Part D Event files, TM fee-for-service claims, and MA encounter data from 2016 to 2019. It included 675,776 hospitalization episodes for Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older with Part D prescription drug coverage. We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis of PIM use before and after hospitalization between TM and MA. PIM use was measured as any Part D dispensing event for a high-risk medication during the 180 days before and after hospitalization. The prevalence of PIM use in TM was 23.90% preadmission and 23.29% post discharge and in MA was 21.82% preadmission and 21.47% post discharge. After adjusting for patient factors, the decrease in PIM use following hospitalization was 0.25 percentage points (95% CI, 0.02-0.49) less in MA than in TM.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Although MA plans are likely to have stronger financial incentives than TM to reduce PIM use, we found that MA and TM beneficiaries experienced similar changes in PIM use following hospitalization.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use Following Hospital Discharge Among Medicare Beneficiaries. The American Journal of Managed Care, 2026;32(8). The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Eli Wei Raver, Dept. of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W Markham St #820, Little Rock, AR 72205. Additional authors for this research include Jeah Jung, Macarius M. Donneyong, Tanya R. Gure, Jeffrey Wing and Wendy Y. Xu.

Publisher contact information for the The American Journal of Managed Care is: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

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