Disease relevance of Medicare Part B

• OBJECTIVE--A three-year demonstration was fielded in three states to evaluate the cost to Medicare of a therapeutic shoes benefit for Medicare Part B beneficiaries with severe diabetic foot disease [1].
• CONCLUSIONS: Medicare Part B claims have a high sensitivity for detecting melanoma incidence; Medicare Part A has low sensitivity [2].
• Today, while patients with ESRD represent only 0.25 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, they consume approximately 10 percent of the Medicare Part B budget [3].
• To assess the impact of these guidelines on clinical practice, we evaluated data on hematocrits, recombinant human erythropoietin dosing, hemodialysis adequacy, and simple fistula and dialysis catheter utilization using Medicare dialysis provider claims and Medicare Part B physician services [4].

Psychiatry related information on Medicare Part B

• The study involves a retrospective analysis of Medicare Part B claims for mental health care for persons in a nursing facility in 1992 (N = 692) using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. Mental health service use was described and analyzed using logistic regression [5].

High impact information on Medicare Part B

• Patients were identified using Current Procedural Terminology codes from the Medicare Part B depository [6].
• MATERIALS AND METHODS: National Medicare Part B databases from 1996 and 1998 were used to evaluate utilization of four primary procedure codes for radionuclide MPI and two supplementary codes (add-on left ventricular wall motion or left ventricular ejection fraction) [7].
• Medicare Part B data then were used to select two samples: men who subsequently were androgen deprived and those who were not [8].
• Medicare Part B: Unraveling the mystique [9].

Biological context of Medicare Part B

• For Medicare Part B claims, internal medicine accounted for the largest portion of physician expenditures (14%) [10].

Associations of Medicare Part B with chemical compounds

• Legal rounds: Decisions of the Supreme Court affecting Medicare Part B claims [11].
• DATA SOURCE: 100% Medicare Part B claims for 186,526 female enrollees residing in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont during 1993 and 1994 [12].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Medicare Part B

• DESIGN: A population-based cohort study using Medicare Part B data (physician services) [13].
• DESIGN--Retrospective analysis of Medicare Part B outpatient claims, Part A hospitalization bills, and death records using a case-control study [14].
• We linked patient identifiers to Medicare Part B claims to identify influenza and pneumococcal vaccines paid for before, during, or after hospitalization [15].
• MEASUREMENTS: Mammography use was ascertained from Medicare Part B claims data [16].
• MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the national 1998 Medicare Part B database, we reviewed all 460 procedure codes pertaining to noninvasive diagnostic imaging and identified 65 that were specifically related to the cardiovascular system [17].

References