A new study authored by Department of Health Policy PhD student Emma Achola and faculty in the Department is among the first to use self-reported outcomes to help determine the benefit of post-acute care for Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries.
To date, most previous research has relied almost entirely on claims data, which does not fully capture the patient experience. In the study, published recently in JAMA Health Forum, the research team used survey data to determine the usage and outcomes of these individuals after certain acute health events.
"he present study adds to the literature by using self-reported outcomes to capture self-perceived functional improvement among Medicare beneficiaries who used postacute care services and examining a broader range of rehabilitative services, such as outpatient clinics," Achola wrote. "Unlike prior studies, we found that MA enrollees who used postacute care services reported less favorable outcomes on some measures than TM beneficiaries."