PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Medicare Part B”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Changing physician behavior: does medical review of Part B Medicare claims make a difference?

This study attempts to determine whether the implementation of mandatory review of Medicare Part B claims for medical necessity has resulted in physicians submitting fewer medically unnecessary claims. After summarizing the literature on the effectiveness of various methods for changing physician practices, we compare the rate at which physicians submitted medically unnecessary claims before and after HCFA imposed mandatory review screens. We find that, consistent with expectations from the literature, the screens are only marginally effective (at best) in reducing the rate at which medically unnecessary claims are submitted. We make some suggestions for lowering this rate.

Cost Control↗
PubMed1993

Accuracy of coding in Medicare part B claims. Cataract as a case study.

We studied the accuracy of Medicare part B coding for cataract extraction to provide validation for research involving Medicare data. Hospital and physician office records associated with a sample of 802 paid claims for cataract surgery were reviewed. The sample was randomly selected from 118,420 Medicare part B claims for cataract surgery submitted by physicians in an 11-state sample during the first quarter of 1988. Medical records were successfully obtained for 796 cataract surgery episodes (99.2%), of which 794 (99.7%) indicated that cataract extraction had been performed. In the remaining two cases, cataract surgery was attempted but aborted. In 24 (3%) of the 794 cases, the surgical approach (intracapsular or extracapsular) indicated in the operative note differed from the coded on the physician's bill. In all cases in which the operative note indicated a secondary procedure performed at the time of surgery, the billing information was in agreement. We conclude that, at least in the case of cataract surgery, the Medicare part B database is 99% accurate (95% confidence interval, +/- 0.6%) for cataract surgery having occurred and 96% accurate (95% confidence interval, +/- 1.4%) in terms of surgical approach.

Cataract Extraction↗
PubMed1979

Carrier discretionary practices and physician payment under Medicare Part B: a preliminary report.

Although Medicare is a national program, administration of Part B payments to physicians is in the hands of insurance organizations in ten Medicare regions. The carriers follow varying practices in using actual charges within localities as the basis for determining reasonable charges for physicians' services. While some of these practices have already been shown to influence fee levels, reasonable charge determination involves many more whose influence has not been systematically studied. This paper reviews preliminary findings from a study which examines carrier differences in discretionary practices as to specialties, localities and other claims data that may be merged or compared with Medicare data in determining customary and prevailing prices used to set limits on Medicare payments, and other practices reported in an official questionnaire to carriers. The effect on fee levels and other measures of program performance is being studied after taking into account social, economic and health resource variables extracted from the Area Resource File, that are expected to influence local medical prices through the demand for and supply of physicians' services. Dependent variables representing fees are the 50th percentile of the distribution of weighted customary charges of individual physicians in an area and Supplementary Medical Insurance expenditure per enrollee. The preliminary findings in this paper concern discretionary practices, socioeconomic variables and fee distributions.

Decision Making↗
PubMed1997

Sensitivity and positive predictive value of Medicare Part B physician claims for rheumatologic diagnoses and procedures.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the sensitivity and positive predictive value of Medicare physician claims for select rheumatic conditions managed in rheumatology specialty practices. METHODS: Eight rheumatologists in 3 states abstracted 378 patient office records to obtain information on diagnosis and office procedures. The Medicare Part B physician claims for these patient visits were obtained from the Health Care Financing Administration. The sensitivity of the claims data for a specific diagnosis was calculated as the proportion of all patients whose office records for a particular visit documented that diagnosis and who also had physician claims for that visit which identified that diagnosis. The positive predictive value was evaluated in a separate sample of 331 patient visits identified in Medicare physician claims. The positive predictive value of the claims data for a specific diagnosis was calculated as the proportion of patients with that diagnosis coded in the claims for a particular visit who also had the diagnosis documented in the medical record for that visit. RESULTS: Ninety percent of abstracted office medical records were matched successfully with Medicare physician claims. The sensitivity of the Medicare physician claims was 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.85-0.95) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 0.85 (95% CI 0.73-0.97) for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and 0.85 (95% CI 0.78-1.0) for aspiration or injection procedures. The sensitivity for osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee was < or = 0.50 if 5-digit codes specifying anatomic site were required. The sensitivity for fibromyalgia (FM) was 0.48 (95% CI 0.28-0.68). The positive predictive values were at least 0.90 for RA, SLE, and aspiration or injection procedures. Positive predictive values for FM and the 5-digit site-specific codes for OA of the knee were 0.83 (95% CI 0.66-1.0) and 0.88 (95% CI 0.75-1.0), respectively, while the positive predictive value of the 5-digit site-specific codes for OA of the hip was zero (95% CI 0-0.26). The positive predictive value of OA at any site was 0.83 (95% CI 0.76-0.90). CONCLUSION: In specialty practice, Medicare physician claims had high sensitivity and positive predictive value for RA, SLE, OA without specification of anatomic site, and injection or aspiration procedures. The claims had lower sensitivity and predictive value for FM and for OA of the hip. The accuracy of Medicare physician claims for other conditions and in the primary care setting requires further investigation.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Medicare Part B: rising assignment rates, rising costs.

In this paper I examine the access, quality, and cost trade-offs of assignment under Part B of the Medicare program for both participating and nonparticipating practices, and discuss the impact of assignment on both physician and patient choices. I also discuss the assignment options, or variants of assignment, that have been pursued and that might be considered for future implementation to curb increases in physician costs. Although one frequently suggested alternative--mandatory assignment--would reduce much of the uncertainty surrounding physician costs and reduce some of the out-of-pocket costs of the elderly, it could promote a two-tier system of care by reducing quality for Medicare beneficiaries, and may produce increases in government expenditures.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed1995

The effectiveness of Medicare Part B medical review: issues and alternatives.

The part B medical review methods currently used by Medicare carriers to control resource use suffer from a series of problems including failure to reward deterrence of unnecessary claims, failure to detect substitution of nonreviewed claims, reliance on average rather than marginal measures of performance, excessive focusing of reviews, and the inability to measure effectiveness separately from the intervention. This article describes these problems and proposes a series of alternative strategies for review that may improve these problems.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1990

Impacts of PPS on Medicare Part B expenditures and utilization for hospital episodes of care.

The universe of Medicare claims for four states from 1983 through 1986 is used to examine the impacts Medicare's prospective payment system (PPS) makes on hospital lengths of stay and on Part B expenditures for physician services associated with hospital stays. The descriptive results show that lengths of stay have fallen, while both inpatient and outpatient expenditures have risen. The regression results, on the other hand, show that PPS has reduced both lengths of stay and expenditures, and that other factors, such as increases in physician fees and patients' severity of illness, account for expenditure increases.

Diagnosis-Related Groups↗
PubMed1971

Medicare--part B.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Fees and Charges↗
PubMed1975

Medicare--part B.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Fees, Medical↗
PubMed1971

Medicare-Part B.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Ambulances↗