A proposed method for identifying Interfacility transfers in Medicare claims data.
Health Serv Res
; 2024 Sep 10.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39256893
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To develop a method of consistently identifying interfacility transfers (IFTs) in Medicare Claims using patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) as an example. DATA SOURCES/STUDYSETTING:
100% Medicare inpatient and outpatient Standard Analytic Files and 5% Carrier Files, 2011-2020. STUDYDESIGN:
Observational, cross-sectional comparison of patient characteristics between proposed and existing methods. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTIONMETHODS:
We limited to patients aged 65+ with STEMI diagnosis using both proposed and existing methods. PRINCIPALFINDINGS:
We identified 62,668 more IFTs using the proposed method (86,128 versus 23,460). A separately billable interfacility ambulance trip was found for more IFTs using the proposed than existing method (86% vs. 79%). Compared with the existing method, transferred patients under the proposed method were more likely to live in rural (p < 0.001) and lower income (p < 0.001) counties and were located farther away from emergency departments, trauma centers, and intensive care units (p < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS:
Identifying transferred patients based on two consecutive inpatient claims results in an undercount of IFTs and under-represents rural and low-income patients.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Health Serv Res
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos