Low use of durable medical equipment by chronically disabled elderly.
Assistive devices are a common effective approach to mitigating the effects of chronic disability. The Medicare Durable Medical Equipment (DME) benefit is intended to provide patients with equipment to meet the challenges of health-related disability; the penetrance of benefit among the disabled is unclear. A nationally representative cohort of 4,687 community-dwelling elderly enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare (part of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey in 1999 and 2000) assessed self-reported disability, and receipt of Medicare DME was assessed through linked claims. Fewer than half the chronically disabled, and less than one-quarter of the newly disabled, received any DME from Medicare. These data suggest underuse of the benefit by the disabled elderly.
Iwashyna
Theodore J
TJ
Department of Medicine, Leonard Davis Institute, and Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130, USA. iwashyna@alumni.princeton.edu
Christie
Jason D
JD
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004389:Durable Medical Equipment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare