title: Trends in the utilization and outcomes of Medicare patients hospitalized for hip fracture, 2000-2008.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examines temporal trends in hip fracture related utilization and outcomes among elderly fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study uses claims data for a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries with an incident hip fracture hospitalization between 2000 and 2008. We present annual mean patient characteristics, health services utilization, and outcomes and use ordinary least squares regressions to examine adjusted trends in utilization and outcomes after controlling for changes in patient characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observe a statistically significant temporal decline in inpatient acute days and a statistically significant increase in inpatient post-acute days following hip fractures. In models that control for patient characteristics, we observe statistically significant declines in 1-year hip fracture readmission and mortality rates. Rates of nursing home residence 1-year following fracture were unchanged and remain high.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hip fractures remain highly debilitating events and pose significant challenges for the financing of public health insurance programs.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Tarun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Meredith L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kilgore
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delzell
authors.forename: Kenneth G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Saag
authors.forename: Huifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Morrisey
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000628:therapy*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States
keywords: Medicare; debility; hip fracture; utilization