A research study published January
15 in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that the
overall quality of health care administered through Medicare has improved in
recent years. The study focuses on health care in Medicare's fee-for-service
plans, but not in Medicare HMO plans.
The just-published study,
conducted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS),
evaluated data on 22 selected health care measures - an example being the
percentage of patients with pneumonia who received effective antibiotic
treatment. The data and percentages for each of the 22 measures were then
compared with the results of a similar CMS study two years ago.
The study shows that a Medicare
patient's chances of receiving appropriate treatment averaged 73% on all 22
measures. A patient's chances of receiving the appropriate treatment on
these same 22 measures in the study two years ago, however, was 69%.
Beside reporting the national
averages, the study lists each state's performance on the measures as well
as its overall ranking. In general, states that ranked highest are in the
northern parts of the country or have smaller populations. California's
ranking slipped six places in the most recent study -- from 39th to 44th in
the nation. But since about 25% of California's Medicare patients are not in
the fee-for-service plans from which the data were collected, one cannot be
sure that California's overall quality of Medicare, including care
administered through Medicare HMO's, actually declined. By
publicizing this study, CMS continued its efforts to improve reporting. In
November it began the National Nursing Home Quality Initiative, which
enhances the data available on the nation's nursing homes, and this year it
plans to report similar information for in-home health agencies.
"Progress is taking place and we are accelerating that progress through
the publication of this article and the launch of these public reporting
initiatives," stated CMS Administrator Tom Scully. To access the full
text of the Journal study including the state rankings (shown in Table 2) go
to jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v289n3/rfull/joc21620.html
February 2003 |
