Researchers from University of Michigan Detail New Studies and Findings in the Area of Medical Devices and Surgical Technology (Developing an Adjunct Services Approach To Identify the Use of Procedures Not Covered By Health Insurance the Case …): Medical Devices and Surgical Technology

2023 APR 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity Daily News -- Current study results on Medical Devices and Surgical Technology have been published. According to news originating from Ann Arbor, Michigan, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Health care claims have an inherent limitation in that noncovered services are unreported. This limitation is particularly problematic when researchers wish to study the effects of changes in the insurance coverage of a service.”

Financial support for this research came from University of Michigan’s M-Cubed research stimulator program.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Michigan, “In prior work, we studied the change in the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) after an employer added coverage. To estimate IVF use before coverage began, we developed and tested an Adjunct Services Approach that identified patterns of covered services cooccurring with IVF. Based on clinical expertise and guidelines, we developed a list of candidate adjunct services and used claims data after IVF coverage began to assess associations of those codes with known IVF cycles and whether any additional codes were also strongly associated with IVF. The algorithm was validated by primary chart review and was then used to infer IVF in the precoverage period. The selected algorithm included pelvic ultrasounds and either menotropin or ganirelix, yielding a sensitivity of 93.0% and specificity of >99.9%. The Adjunct Services Approach effectively assessed the change in IVF use postinsurance coverage. Our approach can be adapted to study IVF in other settings or to study other medical services experiencing coverage changes (eg, fertility preservation, bariatric surgery, and sex confirmation surgery).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Overall, we find that an Adjunct Services Approach can be useful when (1) clinical pathways exist to define services delivered adjunct to the noncovered service, (2) those pathways are followed for most patients receiving the service, and (3) similar patterns of adjunct services occur infrequently with other procedures.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Developing an Adjunct Services Approach To Identify the Use of Procedures Not Covered By Health Insurance the Case of In Vitro Fertilization. Medical Care, 2023;61(4):222-225. 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 - http://journals.lww.com/lww-medicalcare/pages/default.aspx)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Richard A. A. Hirth, University of Michigan, Dept. of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States. Additional authors for this research include Neha Buch Blattner, Edward C. C. Norton, Vanessa K. K. Dalton, Helen G. G. Levy, James M. M. Dupree, Zachary M. M. Levinson, Michael Lanham, Angela S. S. Kelley and Marsha Manning.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000001823. 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.

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