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Activity Number:
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274
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Type:
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Topic Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Wednesday, August 14, 2002 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
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Sponsor:
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Section on Health Policy Statistics*
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| Abstract - #301785 |
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Title:
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Comparison of Individual and Area Level Measures of Race and SES to Assess Disparities in Health Plan Performance
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Author(s):
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Arlene Bierman*+
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Affiliation(s):
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Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Address:
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6010 Executive Blvd., Suite 300, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, USA
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Keywords:
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Health Disparities ; Quality Measurement ; Race ; Medicare ; Geocoding
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Abstract:
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Lack of individual level measures of race and socioeconomic position present a major barrier to assessing disparities in quality of care within health plans. We compared differences in performance measures for low income and African-American enrollees across and within nine Medicare+Choice plans using administrative, survey, and geocoded measures of race and SES. Comparisons were made across ten HEDIS measures for the management of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors. Previously validated measures of race and SES were obtained by geocoding enrollees' address to 1990 Census data at the block group level. A consistent pattern of worse performance on multiple measures for African-American and low income enrolles was identified with similar results obtained with individual level and geocoded data. In the absence of individual-level information on enrollee race and SES, geocoding at the Census block group level may offer managed care systems a reasonable approach to assess disparities and to identify communities at risk. This information can be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at eliminating disparities and to monitor change in performance over time.
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