Rates of Disenrollment From Medicare Advantage Plans Are Higher for Racial/Ethnic Minority Beneficiaries.

Background: Each year, about 10% of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees voluntarily switch to another MA contract, while another 2% voluntarily switch from MA to fee-for-service Medicare. Voluntary disenrollment from MA plans is related to beneficiaries' negative experiences with their plan, disrupts the continuity of care, and conflicts with goals to reduce Medicare costs. Little is known about racial/ethnic disparities in voluntary disenrollment from MA plans.

Imputation of race/ethnicity to enable measurement of HEDIS performance by race/ethnicity.

Objective: To improve an existing method, Medicare Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding (MBISG) 1.0 that augments the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) administrative measure of race/ethnicity with surname and geographic data to estimate race/ethnicity.

Data Sources/study Setting: Data from 284 627 respondents to the 2014 Medicare CAHPS survey.

Associations of CAHPS Composites With Global Ratings of the Doctor Vary by Medicare Beneficiaries' Health Status.

Research Objective: Care coordination among health care providers is essential for high-quality care and it is strongly associated with overall ratings of doctors. Care coordination may be especially important for sicker and chronically ill patients because of the multiple providers involved in their care. This study examines whether the association of care coordination with global ratings of one's personal doctor varies by number of chronic conditions and self-rated health.

Speaking Up and Walking Out: Are Vulnerable Patients Less Likely to Disagree With or Change Doctors?

Background: Disparities in clinical process-of-care and patient experiences are well documented for Medicare beneficiaries with ≥1 social risk factors. If such patients are less willing to express disagreement with their doctors or change doctors when dissatisfied, these behaviors may play a role in observed disparities.

Objective: To investigate the association between social risk factors and self-reported likelihood of disagreeing with or changing doctors if dissatisfied among the Medicare fee-for-service population.

Efficacy of a proactive health and safety risk management system in the fire service.

Background: This study evaluated the efficacy of a fire department proactive risk management program aimed at reducing firefighter injuries and their associated costs.

Methods: Injury data were collected for the intervention fire department and a contemporary control department. Workers' compensation claim frequency and costs were analyzed for the intervention fire department only.

Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Enrollees Report Less Positive Experiences Than Their Medicare Advantage Counterparts.

Since 2006, Medicare beneficiaries have been able to obtain prescription drug coverage through standalone prescription drug plans or their Medicare Advantage (MA) health plan, options exercised in 2015 by 72 percent of beneficiaries. Using data from community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries older than age sixty-four in 700 plans surveyed from 2007 to 2014, we compared beneficiaries' assessments of Medicare prescription drug coverage when provided by standalone plans or integrated into an MA plan. Beneficiaries in standalone plans consistently reported less positive experiences with prescription drug plans (ease of getting medications, getting coverage information, and getting cost information) than their MA counterparts.

Performance of the Medicare Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Physical Functioning Items.

Background: Physical functioning is an important health domain for adults.

Objective: Evaluate physical functioning items in Medicare beneficiaries.

Research Design: Survey data from the 2010 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Medicare survey.

Predictive accuracy in the neuroprediction of rearrest.

A recently published study by the present authors reported evidence that functional changes in the anterior cingulate cortex within a sample of 96 criminal offenders who were engaged in a Go/No-Go impulse control task significantly predicted their rearrest following release from prison. In an extended analysis, we use discrimination and calibration techniques to test the accuracy of these predictions relative to more traditional models and their ability to generalize to new observations in both full and reduced models. Modest to strong discrimination and calibration accuracy were found, providing additional support for the utility of neurobiological measures in predicting rearrest.