title: Impact Of The YMCA Of The USA Diabetes Prevention Program On Medicare Spending And Utilization.
abstract: The YMCA of the USA received a Health Care Innovation Award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide a diabetes prevention program to Medicare beneficiaries with prediabetes in seventeen regional networks of participating YMCAs nationwide. The goal of the program is to help participants lose weight and increase physical activity. We tested whether the program reduced medical spending and utilization in the Medicare population. Using claims data to compute total medical costs for fee-for-service Medicare participants and a matched comparison group of nonparticipants, we found that the overall weighted average savings per member per quarter during the first three years of the intervention period was $278. Total decreases in inpatient admissions and emergency department (ED) visits were significant, with nine fewer inpatient stays and nine fewer ED visits per 1,000 participants per quarter. These results justify continued support of the model.
authors.affiliation: Maria L. Alva (malva@rti.org) is a health economist in the Public Health Economics Program at RTI International in Washington, D.C.
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Alva
authors.affiliation: Thomas J. Hoerger is a senior fellow in the Public Health Economics Program at RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Hoerger
authors.affiliation: Ravikumar Jeyaraman is an analyst in the Health Data and Standardized Methods Department at RTI International in Research Triangle Park.
authors.forename: Ravikumar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jeyaraman
authors.affiliation: Peter Amico is a health economist in the Health Care Financing and Payment Program at RTI International in Waltham, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Amico
authors.affiliation: Lucia Rojas-Smith is director of the Social and Health Organizational Research and Evaluation Program at RTI International in Washington.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rojas-Smith
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017046:Cost Savings / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States
keywords: Evidence-Based Medicine; Health Spending; Medicare