WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Findings released today and detailed in the analysis Low Consumption and Higher Medicare Cost: Consumption Clusters in a Medicare Fee-for-Service Population, examine how individuals utilize benefits and services under the Medicare program. The research suggests that beneficiaries with chronic diseases who consume the least of their Medicare benefits and services (referred to as "low consumers") and potentially under manage their disease may experience an acute event that requires costly emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
The research, spearheaded by the National Minority Quality Forum (The Forum), analyzed Medicare data over a six-year period. The Forum found that Medicare beneficiaries may be clustered into five consumption groups (crisis consumers, heavy consumers, moderate consumers, light consumers and low consumers) based on how much Medicare reimburses for services provided to beneficiaries in any year. The two most-costly clusters are crisis consumers and heavy consumers -- representing only 11 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, but 65 percent of all costs. These are dynamic clusters as consumption patterns among beneficiaries can significantly vary from one year to the next. Beneficiaries who are low consumers one year may become heavy consumers the next sparked by a critical and often costly health event. There is ample evidence that in the immediate future, significant increases in reimbursements may be anticipated for those beneficiaries with diabetes who rank among the lowest consumers of benefits. It is likely that similar patterns exist for those with other chronic diseases.
"The findings paint a new picture of the Medicare beneficiary living with a chronic disease and how that individual utilizes the program," said Gary Puckrein, PhD., Founding Partner of the Diabetes Care Project and President and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum. "If we can identify these patients, who are under-managing their chronic condition putting them at high-risk for disease complications, we can intervene to help these individuals manage their disease more effectively, and, ultimately, reduce overall health care costs." One out of every four Medicare dollars is spent on beneficiaries with diabetes, with a high percentage attributed to tertiary illness caused by unmanaged or under-managed diabetes.
"We know that diabetes and other chronic conditions disproportionately affect the elderly, and with an aging population and a rapid influx of Baby Boomers entering the Medicare program, we need to better understand the barriers associated with managing their chronic diseases," said James R. Gavin III, MD, PhD, CEO and Chief Medical Officer, Healing Our Village and Chairman Emeritus, National Diabetes Education Program. "If we can better understand our Medicare patients, we can help them achieve better health outcomes."
The Diabetes Care Project (DCP), founded by The Forum, Roche Diagnostics and in partnership with the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and Healthways, Inc., is a new coalition of patient advocates and health partners who are committed to dramatically reducing acute events that are a consequence of diabetic complications through early interventions and improved chronic-care management (www.diabetescareproject.org). In 2010, the DCP plans to undertake a series of projects that will help better understand the low consuming diabetic, and their impact on the health care system. The purpose of these initiatives is to offer guidance as to how policies, regulations, targeted interventions, education, and personalized diabetes care management plans may help improve patient outcomes and lower costs for the entire health system.
Diabetes is a growing public health epidemic affecting over 23 million Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, type 2 diabetes, fueled by rising rates of obesity, accounts for nearly 90-95 percent of all people with diabetes and disproportionately affects minority and aging populations in the U.S. (nearly 20 percent of Medicare beneficiaries have diabetes). The U.S. spends approximately $174 billion in annual total costs for diagnosed diabetes with $166 billion in direct medical costs.
About the Diabetes Care Project
The Diabetes Care Project (DCP) is a coalition of patient advocates and health partners whose goal is to educate patients, caregivers, healthcare providers and policymakers on the value of developing personalized management plans for diabetes patients in an effort to improve each patient's health outcomes and lower costs for the entire health system.
Roche Diagnostics and the National Minority Quality Forum are founding partners of the Diabetes Care Project (DCP). All partners of the DCP are committed to improving patient outcomes and advancing diabetes care and management. For more information please visit www.diabetescareproject.org.
About the National Minority Quality Forum
The National Minority Quality Forum (http://www.nmqf.org) was founded in 1998 as a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to strengthen national and local efforts to eliminate the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness in racial and ethnic minorities and other special populations through the use of evidence-based, data-driven initiatives, including a series of health atlases (http://www.z-atlas.com).
About the American Association of Diabetes Educators
AADE is a multi-disciplinary professional membership organization dedicated to improving diabetes care through education. With more than 12,000 professional members including nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, physicians, and others, AADE has a vast network of practitioners involved in the daily treatment of diabetes patients. Collectively, our alliances, member practitioner networks, and academic partners uniquely position AADE at the locus of change for the future treatment of diabetes. To learn more go to: www.diabeteseducator.org.
About Roche Diabetes Care
Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 30 years, Roche has been committed to helping people with diabetes live lives that are as normal and active as possible and has been helping healthcare professionals manage their patients' condition in an optimal way. Today, the ACCU-CHEK portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products, services and comprehensive solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management -- from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The ACCU-CHEK brand encompasses blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems. For more information, please visit accu-chek.com.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2008, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 9 billion Swiss francs in R & D. The Group posted sales of 45.6 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche-diagnostics.us
About Healthways
Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and well-being and, as a result, reduce overall costs. Healthways’ solutions are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate and slow the progression to disease associated with family or lifestyle risk factors and promote the best possible health for those already affected by disease. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network and a national Fitness Center Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.
SOURCE Diabetes Care Project
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The research, spearheaded by the National Minority Quality Forum (The Forum), analyzed Medicare data over a six-year period. The Forum found that Medicare beneficiaries may be clustered into five consumption groups (crisis consumers, heavy consumers, moderate consumers, light consumers and low consumers) based on how much Medicare reimburses for services provided to beneficiaries in any year. The two most-costly clusters are crisis consumers and heavy consumers -- representing only 11 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, but 65 percent of all costs. These are dynamic clusters as consumption patterns among beneficiaries can significantly vary from one year to the next. Beneficiaries who are low consumers one year may become heavy consumers the next sparked by a critical and often costly health event. There is ample evidence that in the immediate future, significant increases in reimbursements may be anticipated for those beneficiaries with diabetes who rank among the lowest consumers of benefits. It is likely that similar patterns exist for those with other chronic diseases.
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"The findings paint a new picture of the Medicare beneficiary living with a chronic disease and how that individual utilizes the program," said Gary Puckrein, PhD., Founding Partner of the Diabetes Care Project and President and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum. "If we can identify these patients, who are under-managing their chronic condition putting them at high-risk for disease complications, we can intervene to help these individuals manage their disease more effectively, and, ultimately, reduce overall health care costs." One out of every four Medicare dollars is spent on beneficiaries with diabetes, with a high percentage attributed to tertiary illness caused by unmanaged or under-managed diabetes.
"We know that diabetes and other chronic conditions disproportionately affect the elderly, and with an aging population and a rapid influx of Baby Boomers entering the Medicare program, we need to better understand the barriers associated with managing their chronic diseases," said James R. Gavin III, MD, PhD, CEO and Chief Medical Officer, Healing Our Village and Chairman Emeritus, National Diabetes Education Program. "If we can better understand our Medicare patients, we can help them achieve better health outcomes."
The Diabetes Care Project (DCP), founded by The Forum, Roche Diagnostics and in partnership with the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and Healthways, Inc., is a new coalition of patient advocates and health partners who are committed to dramatically reducing acute events that are a consequence of diabetic complications through early interventions and improved chronic-care management (www.diabetescareproject.org). In 2010, the DCP plans to undertake a series of projects that will help better understand the low consuming diabetic, and their impact on the health care system. The purpose of these initiatives is to offer guidance as to how policies, regulations, targeted interventions, education, and personalized diabetes care management plans may help improve patient outcomes and lower costs for the entire health system.
Diabetes is a growing public health epidemic affecting over 23 million Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, type 2 diabetes, fueled by rising rates of obesity, accounts for nearly 90-95 percent of all people with diabetes and disproportionately affects minority and aging populations in the U.S. (nearly 20 percent of Medicare beneficiaries have diabetes). The U.S. spends approximately $174 billion in annual total costs for diagnosed diabetes with $166 billion in direct medical costs.
About the Diabetes Care Project
The Diabetes Care Project (DCP) is a coalition of patient advocates and health partners whose goal is to educate patients, caregivers, healthcare providers and policymakers on the value of developing personalized management plans for diabetes patients in an effort to improve each patient's health outcomes and lower costs for the entire health system.
Roche Diagnostics and the National Minority Quality Forum are founding partners of the Diabetes Care Project (DCP). All partners of the DCP are committed to improving patient outcomes and advancing diabetes care and management. For more information please visit www.diabetescareproject.org.
About the National Minority Quality Forum
The National Minority Quality Forum (http://www.nmqf.org) was founded in 1998 as a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to strengthen national and local efforts to eliminate the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness in racial and ethnic minorities and other special populations through the use of evidence-based, data-driven initiatives, including a series of health atlases (http://www.z-atlas.com).
About the American Association of Diabetes Educators
AADE is a multi-disciplinary professional membership organization dedicated to improving diabetes care through education. With more than 12,000 professional members including nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, physicians, and others, AADE has a vast network of practitioners involved in the daily treatment of diabetes patients. Collectively, our alliances, member practitioner networks, and academic partners uniquely position AADE at the locus of change for the future treatment of diabetes. To learn more go to: www.diabeteseducator.org.
About Roche Diabetes Care
Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 30 years, Roche has been committed to helping people with diabetes live lives that are as normal and active as possible and has been helping healthcare professionals manage their patients' condition in an optimal way. Today, the ACCU-CHEK portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products, services and comprehensive solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management -- from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The ACCU-CHEK brand encompasses blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems. For more information, please visit accu-chek.com.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2008, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 9 billion Swiss francs in R & D. The Group posted sales of 45.6 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche-diagnostics.us
About Healthways
Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and well-being and, as a result, reduce overall costs. Healthways’ solutions are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate and slow the progression to disease associated with family or lifestyle risk factors and promote the best possible health for those already affected by disease. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network and a national Fitness Center Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.
SOURCE Diabetes Care Project
