title: The identification of high-cost patients.
abstract: The authors examine whether retrospective claims data are useful to distinguish future high-cost cases among the uninsured. They rely on internal claims and accounting data for the calendar years from 1999 to 2001 from a representative safety net facility to describe the distribution of costs and any characteristics that distinguish high-cost patients from other uninsured patients. They conclude that administrative data combined with in-depth survey information could be a useful approach for identifying cases for intensive case management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Tiffany A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Radcliff
authors.forename: Murray J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Côté
authors.forename: R Paul
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004469:Economics, Hospital; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020379:Risk Adjustment; D014481:United States