Spending and service use among people with the fifteen most costly medical conditions, 1997.
This study addresses the Institute of Medicine's recommendation that AHRQ use MEPS data to identify a set of priority conditions to inform efforts at improving quality of care. Using MEPS data we identify the fifteen most expensive conditions in the U.S. in 1997: chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, and acute conditions such as trauma, pneumonia, and infectious disease. Comorbidities were also associated with increased expenses. Type-of-service and source-of-payment distributions varied considerably across this set of conditions. Our findings highlight some of the challenges likely to be encountered in efforts to reform the current system.
Cohen
Joel W
JW
Division of Social and Economic Research, Center for Cost and Financing Studies, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
Krauss
Nancy A
NA
D000208:Acute Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006292:Health Priorities / Q000145:classification* / Q000191:economics; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015969:National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016270:United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality