Trends in the utilization of medical imaging from 2003 to 2011: clinical encounters offer a complementary patient-centered focus.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate trends in utilization and spending for medical imaging, using medical visits resulting in imaging as a novel metric of utilization. METHODS: Utilization and spending for medical imaging were examined using (1) Medicare Part B claims data from 2003 to 2011 to measure per-enrollee spending and (2) household component events data on the elderly Medicare-age population from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2003 to 2010 to measure utilization as a function of clinical encounters. RESULTS: Annual health spending and Medicare payments for imaging for the elderly population grew from $294 per enrollee in 2003 to $418 in 2006 and had declined to $390 by 2011. Over this entire time, however, annual medical visits by a similar Medicare-age (≥ 65 years old) population resulting in imaging trended consistently downward, from 12.8% in 2003 to 10.6% in 2011. CONCLUSIONS: Despite early growth and then more recent declines in average Medicare spending per enrollee since 2003, the percentage of patient encounters resulting in medical imaging has significantly and consistently declined nationwide. Spending alone is thus an incomplete measure of changes in the role and utilization of medical imaging in overall patient care. As policymakers focus on medical imaging, a thoughtful analysis of payment policy influencing imaging utilization, and its role in concurrent and downstream patient care, will be critical to ensure appropriate patient access.

Case study of a primary care-based accountable care system approach to medical home transformation.

We report a case study of a mature primary care-based accountable care organization that is both a health plan and a network of medical homes. Over 20 years, WellMed Inc (San Antonio, Texas) implemented many patient-centered services, experimenting to find which belong within clinics and which operate best as system functions. The adjusted mortality rate is half that of the state for people older than 65 years. Hospitalization and readmission rates and emergency department visits have not changed over time, but preventive services have improved. Phased implementation across the network makes it difficult to link improvements to specific processes but they seem to have improved outcomes collectively.

Income disparities shape medical student specialty choice.

Currently, a gap of more than $135,000 separates the median annual subspecialist income from that of a primary care physician, yielding a $3.5 million difference in expected income over a lifetime. These income disparities dissuade medical students from selecting primary care and should be addressed to ensure sufficient patient access to primary care.

Measuring primary care expenses.

BACKGROUND: Significant investments and effort are being devoted to health care reform, yet little is known about the costs of improvements. Practical tools are needed to allow for systematic assessment of practice expenses. We report here a field trial of a standardized expenditure data collection instrument. METHODS: Combining economic and primary care practice consultation, an expenditure data collection instrument was created. The instrument underwent observed feasibility testing and was fielded by 10 practice-based research networks in 30 practices conducting 10 different health behavior change interventions. RESULTS: Start-up and operating expenses were successfully collected for 87% and 97% of the practices, respectively. Data collection time and effort were considerable but acceptable. Three elements were necessary to collect expenditure data: (1) an intervention-specific data collection instrument, (2) a field guide, and (3) economic oversight and assistance. Fully 90% of networks reported that they planned to collect expenditure data in the future and study participation increased the likelihood of their participation in a future expenditure study. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to systematically collect intervention-specific expenses in primary care using formal expenditure methods. However, most practices and researchers lack the knowledge, expertise, and resources to collect such data independently. Further assistance and education is necessary to obtain reliable information about the expenses to transform and improve primary care.

State tort reforms and hospital malpractice costs.

This study explored the relation between state medical liability reform measures, hospital malpractice costs, and hospital solvency. It suggests that state malpractice caps are desirable but not essential for improved hospital financial solvency or viability.

Usual source of care: an important source of variation in health care spending.

Health care spending varies in unexplained ways, and physicians' behavior is thought to explain much of the variation. We studied the spending effects of having different usual sources of care, focusing on variations associated with the type of facility or physician specialty. Based on analyses of data from the 2001-2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys, we found significant differences in annual spending, especially for adults. Use of and spending for subspecialists were similar to those for general internists, and both were significantly higher than those for family physicians. Variation in spending might be the result of training differences among primary care specialties.

Primary care's ecologic impact on obesity.

With a costly obesity epidemic, policy makers must recognize factors that may influence obesity not only for each person, but also across communities. Increased primary care physician density on the county level is associated with decreased obesity rates. As we move to restructure the primary care workforce and engage our patients and communities in behavior change, the implications of this association merit closer investigation.

Having a usual source of care reduces ED visits.

The recent growth in the use of emergency departments (EDs) is costly, undesirable, and unnecessary. This trend is partly due to a growing proportion of persons who lack a usual source of care. This group is increasingly likely to rely on EDs for their health care needs compared with those who have a usual source of care.

Physician distribution and access: workforce priorities.

Most Primary Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) exceed federal population-to-physician designation criteria, yet struggle to maintain access to primary care physicians. Policy options for recruiting and retaining primary care physicians to HPSAs, and new HPSA criteria that support access to primary care practices, should be considered.

A perfect storm: changes impacting Medicare threaten primary care access in underserved areas.

A convergence of three policies could reduce physician Medicare payments by 14.9 to 22.3 percent in 2008, which could jeopardize access for Medicare beneficiaries in underserved areas. Congress and the Executive Branch should coordinate their roles in setting Medicare payment policy, because their overlapping decisions can have additive impact.

Changing patient health-risk behavior requires new investment in primary care.

Evidence supports the effectiveness of primary care interventions to improve nutrition, increase physical activity levels, reduce alcohol intake, and stop tobacco use. However, implementing these interventions requires considerable practice expense. If we hope to change behavior to reduce chronic illness, the way we pay for primary care services must be modified to incorporate these expenses.

Start-up and incremental practice expenses for behavior change interventions in primary care.

BACKGROUND: If behavior-change services are to be offered routinely in primary care practices, providers must be appropriately compensated. Estimating what is spent by practices in providing such services is a critical component of establishing appropriate payment and was the objective of this study. METHODS: In-practice expenditure data were collected for ten different interventions, using a standardized instrument in 29 practices nested in ten practice-based research networks across the U.S. during 2006-2007. The data were analyzed using standard templates to create credible estimates of the expenses incurred for both the start-up period and the implementation phase of the interventions. RESULTS: Average monthly start-up expenses were $1860 per practice (SE=$455). Most start-up expenditures were for staff training. Average monthly incremental costs were $58 ($15 for provision of direct care [SE=$5]; $43 in overhead [SE=$17]) per patient participant. The bulk of the intervention expenditures was spent on the recruitment and screening of patient participants. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care practices must spend money to address their patients' unhealthy behaviors--at least $1860 to initiate systematic approaches and $58 monthly per participating patient to implement the approaches routinely. Until primary care payment systems incorporate these expenses, it is unlikely that these services will be readily available.

Common measures, better outcomes (COMBO): a field test of brief health behavior measures in primary care.

BACKGROUND: Primary care offices have been characterized as underutilized settings for routinely addressing health behaviors that contribute to premature death and unnecessary suffering. Practical tools are needed to routinely assess multiple health risk behaviors among diverse primary care patients. The performance of a brief set of behavioral measures used in primary care practice is reported here. METHODS: Between August 2005 and January 2007, 75 primary care practices assessed four health behaviors, using a 21-item patient self-report questionnaire for adults or a 16-item questionnaire for adolescents. Data were collected via telephone, paper, or electronic means, either with or without assistance. The performance of these measures was evaluated by describing risk-behavior prevalences, combinations of risk behaviors, and missing data. RESULTS: Of 227 adolescents and 5358 adults, most patients completed all of the survey questions. Two or more unhealthy behaviors were reported by 47.1% of adolescents and 69.2% of adults. Percentages of adults who completed all the survey items varied by health behavior: tobacco use, 98.5%; diet, 98.2%; physical activity, 96.2%; alcohol use, 85.1%. Missing data rates were higher for unassisted patient self-reporting. CONCLUSIONS: A relatively brief set of health behavior measures was usable in a variety of primary care settings with adults and adolescents. The performance of these measures was uneven across behaviors and administration modes, but yielded estimates of unhealthy behaviors consistent overall with what would be expected based on published population estimates. Further work is needed on measures for alcohol use and physical activity to bring practical assessment tools for key health behaviors to routine primary care practice.

Nonemergency medicine-trained physician coverage in rural emergency departments.

CONTEXT: Rural areas have fewer physicians compared to urban areas, and rural emergency departments often rely on community or contracted providers for staffing. The emergency department workforce is composed of a variety of physician specialties and clinicians. PURPOSE: To determine the distribution of emergency department clinicians and the proportion of care they provide across the rural-urban continuum. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of secondary data. The distribution of clinicians who provide emergency department care by county was determined using the 2003 Area Resource File. The percentage of emergency department care provided by clinician type was determined using 2003 Medicare claims data. Logistic regression analyses assessed the odds of being seen by different clinicians with a patient's rurality when presenting to the emergency department. FINDINGS: Board-certified emergency physicians provide 75% of all emergency department care, but only 48% for Medicare beneficiaries of the most rural of counties. The bulk of the remainder of emergency department care is largely provided by family physicians and general internists, with the percentage increasing with rurality. The likelihood of being seen by an emergency physician in the emergency department decreases 5-fold as rurality increases, while being seen by a family physician increases 7-fold. CONCLUSION: Nonemergency physicians provide a significant portion of emergency department care, particularly in rural areas. Medical specialties must cooperate to ensure the availability of high-quality emergency department care to all Americans regardless of physician specialty.

Family physicians in the child health care workforce: opportunities for collaboration in improving the health of children.

Pediatric workforce studies suggest that there may be a sufficient number of pediatricians for the current and projected US child population. These analyses do not fully consider the role of family medicine in the care of children. Family physicians provide 16% to 26% of visits for children, providing a medical home for one third of the child population, but face shrinking panels of children. Family medicine's role in children's health care is more stable in rural communities, for adolescents, and for underserved populations. For these populations, in particular, family medicine's role remains important. The erosion of the proportion of visits to family medicine is likely caused by the rapid rise in the number of pediatricians relative to a declining birth rate. Between 1981 and 2004, the general pediatrician population grew at 7 times the rate of the US population, and the family physician workforce grew at nearly 5 times the rate. The number of clinicians caring for children meets or exceeds most estimates of sufficiency; however, the workforce distribution is skewed, leaving certain populations and settings underserved. More than 5 million children and adolescents live in counties with no pediatrician. Unmet need, addressing health in the context of families and communities, and tackling "millennial morbidities" represent common ground for both specialties that could lead to specific, collaborative training, research, intervention, and advocacy.

COGME's 16th Report to Congress: too many physicians could be worse than wasted.

Departing from past reports, the latest Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) report warns of a physician deficit of 85,000 by 2020 and recommends increases in medical school and residency output. COGME notes that contributions of other clinicians and changes in how medical care is delivered in the future would likely offset physician deficits but chose not to modify their recommendations. COGME offers a relatively minor workforce correction in an otherwise flawed system of health care; however, the nation awaits a reassessment of its physician workforce based on what the nation wants and needs from physicians working in modern systems of care. Great caution should be exercised in expanding the physician workforce. Producing a physician surplus could be far worse than wasted, because the investment required and resulting rise in health care cost may harm, not help, the health of people in the United States. Instead, these resources could be applied in ways that improve health.

Adding more specialists is not likely to improve population health: is anybody listening?

Before a shortage of physicians, and particularly subspecialists, in the United States is declared, it is worth reviewing the considerable evidence that calls into question whether further specialization automatically improves health. Barbara Starfield and colleagues' latest research reveals, again, that having more specialists may not be a good thing. The current workforce functions well as an economic engine, but continued emphasis on market demand will likely widen disparities in workforce distribution and population health. The resurgence of interest in shaping the future physician workforce should lead to purposeful choices about what we want them to do and the outcomes we expect.