Medicare
Enrollment in Medicare managed care plans reduced the rate of preventable hospitalizations among beneficiaries in California, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania relative to traditional Medicare plans, according to a study in Medical Care Research and Review.
Researchers attributed the lower hospitalization rate among HMO plans to a higher level of primary and preventive care services. The authors also noted that HMOs might reduce preventable hospitalizations relative to other types of admissions, especially for severely ill patients.
The authors recommended repeating the study on a larger scale to assess the outcome of Medicare managed care plans in states with different experiences with managed care and levels of managed care penetration (Basu/Mobley, Medical Care Research and Review, October 2007).