title: Profiling resource use by primary-care practices: managed Medicare implications.
abstract: Variations in elderly Medicare beneficiaries' health service use are examined using a 100-percent sample of fee-for-service (FFS) claims data from Alabama, Iowa, and Maryland. Provider specialty, group practice type, practice size, and location are found to be significant factors affecting hospital and ambulatory care utilization and cost, after controlling for patient and regional characteristics. These results provide insights into utilization and cost expectations from different types of primary-care gatekeepers as the Medicare managed care market develops.
authors.affiliation: Project HOPE Center for Health Affairs, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Parente
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Garnick
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fowles
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Lawthers
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000407:Alabama; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D007484:Iowa; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008396:Maryland; D016344:Medicare Part A / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016345:Medicare Part B / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000379:methods*