The Medicare Care Choices Model was associated with reductions in disparities in the use of hospice care for Medicare beneficiaries with terminal illness.

Objective: To assess the effects of the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) on disparities in hospice use and quality of end-of-life care for Medicare beneficiaries from underserved groups-those from racial and ethnic minority groups, dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, or living in rural areas.

Data Sources And Study Setting: Medicare enrollment and claims data from 2013 to 2021 for terminally ill Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries nationwide.

Study Design: Through MCCM, terminally ill enrolled Medicare beneficiaries received supportive and palliative care services from hospice providers concurrently with curative treatments.

Medicare Care Choices Model Improved End-Of-Life Care, Lowered Medicare Expenditures, And Increased Hospice Use.

The Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) tested a new option for eligible Medicare beneficiaries to receive conventional treatment for terminal conditions along with supportive and palliative care from participating hospice providers. Using claims data, we estimated differences in average outcomes from enrollment to death between deceased MCCM enrollees and matched comparison beneficiaries who received usual services covered by original Medicare. Enrollees were 15 percentage points less likely to receive an aggressive life-prolonging treatment at the end of life and spent more than five more days at home.

Effects of Home-Based Primary Care on Hospital Use for High-Need Medicare Patients: an Observational Study.

Background: High-need, high-cost Medicare patients can have difficulties accessing office-based primary care. Home-based primary care (HBPC) can reduce access barriers and allow a clinician to obtain valuable information not obtained during office visit, possibly leading to reductions in hospital use.

Objective: To determine whether HBPC for high-need, high-cost patients reduces hospitalizations and Medicare inpatient expenditures.

Effects of a nursing home telehealth program on spending and utilization for Medicare residents.

Objective: To assess the effects of eLongTermCare (eLTC), a telehealth program implemented by an integrated health system in 45 nursing homes across the Midwest, on the use of acute hospital services and total expenditures for Medicare residents.

Data Sources: Minimum Data Set, Medicare fee-for-service claims, and enrollment data from 2013 to 2018.

Study Design: We used a longitudinal difference-in-differences design to estimate the changes in outcomes for treatment beneficiaries before and after participating in the eLTC program, relative to changes for the matched comparison beneficiaries over the same period.