Medicare recipients given orthotic and prosthetic devices were more likely to remain active in the community and avoid facility-based care than similar Medicare patients who didn't receive such devices, a retrospective study found.
For example, patients receiving lower-extremity orthoses had fewer hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) admissions, and had about 10% lower Medicare costs after 18 months (P<0.05). Comparable Medicare savings were seen in patients with spinal orthoses and they also relied less on facility-based care (P<0.05).
The study results will be used to urge Medicare and other payers to make it easier for patients in need of prosthetics to receive them, the Amputee Coalition, a Manassas, Va.-based advocacy group that commissioned the study, said Tuesday.
The advocates said patients who receive orthoses and prosthetics will save Medicare money in the long run.
Although they relied less on facility-based care, patients receiving the orthotic and prosthetic devices did have more falls and fractures, and average Medicare episode payments weren't always lower. The increase in falls was most likely due to increased mobility because of the device, according to Allen Dobson, president of Dobson DaVanzo & Associates in Vienna, Va., the consulting firm that conducted the study.
"The increased physical therapy among O&P [orthoses and prosthetic] users allowed patients to become less bed-bound and more independent, which may be associated with higher rates of falls and fractures, but fewer emergency room admissions and acute care hospital admissions," the report concluded. "This reduction in health care utilization ultimately makes O&P services cost-effective for the Medicare program and increases the quality of life and independence of the patient."
Dobson, a former research director at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and colleagues examined CMS data from 2007 to 2010 for patients who either had an amputation within the last year or who met predetermined etiological diagnoses. Patients who received a lower-extremity or spinal orthotic or prosthetic device were compared with those who hadn't received such devices.
The study compared healthcare utilization, Medicare payments, and negative outcomes such as fall and emergency department admissions for up to 18 months after receiving the device.
Generally, patients were found to be more mobile and therefore able to receive the physical therapy and rehabilitation required, and to avoid facility-based care.
With the data in hand, advocates hope it will be easier for patients to receive authorization for the devices.
"Insurers want to see the data that the healthcare system is better off if the service is provided," Susan Stout, interim president and chief executive of the Amputee Coalition, said in a call with reporters. "Now that the study is completed, we intend to use the information contained in the study to achieve fair insurance coverage for prosthetic devices."
Providers must prove the medical necessity of devices before insurers will pay for their use, a step which can be burdensome to patients and physicians. Insurers also have a tendency to provide the least expensive prostheses rather than one that maximizes a patient's mobility.
"For the first time, we can actually use the data ... that clearly demonstrates the efficiency and the efficacy of the services that we provide," Thomas Kirk, PhD, president of theAmerican Orthotic & Prosthetic Association, said in a call with reporters. "Not only are we providing services that can help out patients, we are also helping the American taxpayers save money."
While payers don't deny the devices, a number of patients are underserved by insurers, the advocates said on the call Tuesday. "Many payers have seen the cost of a prosthesis in a vacuum rather than seeing it as actually contributing to the overall improved health of the patient," Kirk said.
The authors hope to publish the results in a medical journal later.
Source: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Medicare/41260
Link to report: http://www.amputee-coalition.org/content/documents/dobson-davanzo-report.pdf
