Study Findings on Managed Care Are Outlined in Reports from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) (The Diabetes Health Plan and Healthcare Utilization Among Beneficiaries With Low Incomes): Managed Care

2022 DEC 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting originating from Los Angeles, California, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The socioeconomic status (SES) gradient in hospital and emergency room utilization among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is partially driven by cost-related non-adherence. To test the impact of the Diabetes Health Plan (DHP), a diabetes-specific health plan incorporating value-based insurance design principles on healthcare utilization among low-income adults with T2DM.”

Funders for this research include Centers for Disease Control & Prevention - USA, NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA).

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), “To examine the impact of the DHP on healthcare utilization, we employed a difference-in-differences (DID) study design with a propensity-matched comparison group. We modeled count and dichotomous outcomes using Poisson and logit models, respectively. Cohort of adults (18-64) with T2DM, with an annual household income <$ 30,000, and who were continuously enrolled in an employer-sponsored UnitedHealthcare plan for at least 2 years between 2009 and 2014. The DHP reduces or eliminates out-of-pocket costs for disease management visits, diabetes-related medicines, and diabetes self-monitoring supplies. The DHP also provides access to diabetes-specific telephone case management as well as other online resources. Number of disease management visits (N = 1732), any emergency room utilization (N = 1758), and any hospitalization (N = 1733), within the year. DID models predicting disease management visits suggested that DHP-exposed beneficiaries had 1.7 fewer in-person disease management visits per year (- 1.70 [95% CI: - 2.19, - 1.20], p< 0.001), on average, than comparison beneficiaries. Models for emergency room (0.00 [95% CI: - 0.06, 0.06], p = 0.966) and hospital utilization (- 0.03 [95% CI: - 0.08, - 0.01], p = 0.164) did not demonstrate statistically significant changes associated with DHP exposure. While no relationship between DHP exposure and high-cost utilization was observed in the short term, fewer in-person disease management visits were observed.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Future studies are needed to determine the clinical implications of these findings.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: The Diabetes Health Plan and Healthcare Utilization Among Beneficiaries With Low Incomes. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2022. Journal of General Internal Medicine can be contacted at: Springer, One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, Ny, United States. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Journal of General Internal Medicine - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1525-1497)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kimberly Danae Cauley Narain, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Div Gen Internal Med & Hlth Serv Res Gim Hsr, Dept. of Medicine, David Geffen Sch Med, 1100 Glendon Ave, Suite 850, Los Angeles, CA 90024, United States. Additional authors for this research include Norman Turk, O. Kenrik Duru, Tannaz Moin and Carol M. Mangione.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-022-07903-9. 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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