Physician Participation in Meaningful Use and Quality of Care for Medicare Fee-for-Service Enrollees.

TitlePhysician Participation in Meaningful Use and Quality of Care for Medicare Fee-for-Service Enrollees.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsJung H-Y, Unruh MAaron, Vest JR, Casalino LP, Kern LM, Grinspan ZM, Bao Y, Kaushal R
Corporate AuthorsHITEC Investigators
JournalJ Am Geriatr Soc
Volume65
Issue3
Pagination608-613
Date Published2017 Mar
ISSN1532-5415
KeywordsAged, Cohort Studies, Colorectal Neoplasms, Diabetic Retinopathy, Emergency Service, Hospital, Fee-for-Service Plans, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Influenza Vaccines, Male, Mass Screening, Meaningful Use, Medicare, Physician's Role, Quality Indicators, Health Care, Retrospective Studies, United States, Vaccination
Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The Meaningful Use initiative has made nearly $30 billion available through incentive programs to encourage provider adoption and use of electronic health records. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of outpatient physicians' participation in Meaningful Use on the quality of care provided to Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) enrollees.

DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING: One hundred percent inpatient and outpatient Medicare FFS claims covering the period January 2010 through December 2012.

PARTICIPANTS: 303,110 Medicare FFS enrollees from New York State.

MEASUREMENTS: Hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs), diabetic retinopathy screening, diabetic nephropathy screening, colorectal cancer screening, and influenza vaccinations.

RESULTS: Physician participation in the Meaningful Use initiative was not associated with reductions in ACSC-related hospitalizations (0.0 percentage points, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.0-0.1) or ED visits (0.0 percentage points, 95% CI: 0.0-0.1) relative to the comparison group. Meaningful Use participation was associated with higher odds of colorectal cancer screening (odds ratio (OR): 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1-1.4) relative to the comparison group, but not for diabetic retinopathy screening (OR: 1.1, 95% CI: 1.0-1.2), diabetic nephropathy screening (OR: 1.0, 95% CI: 0.8-1.2), or influenza vaccinations (OR: 1.1, 95% CI: 1.0-1.2). Similar results were found in secondary analyses of dually-eligible beneficiaries participating in both Medicare and Medicaid.

CONCLUSION: Physician participation in Meaningful Use was not associated with substantial improvements on six quality measures.

DOI10.1111/jgs.14704
Alternate JournalJ Am Geriatr Soc
PubMed ID28008597
Category: 
Faculty Publication