title: A comparison of inpatient severity, average length of stay, and cost for traditional fee-for-service medicare and medicare HMOs in Florida.
abstract: This research compares the mean severity level, length of stay, and cost of Medicare health maintenance organization (HMO) and Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) inpatients. The results suggest Medicare HMOs have healthier inpatients and shorter lengths of stay, but more costly per-day utilization. These findings are contrary to the assumption that HMOs reduce daily utilization.
authors.affiliation: Decision Sciences, School of Business and Public Administration, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Texas, USA. REVERE@CL.UH.EDU
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Revere
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Large
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Langland-Orban
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000191:economics; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005431:Florida; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016344:Medicare Part A / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index