Analytic Guidance

This video is one segment in a series of videos from ResDAC’s Introduction to the Use of Medicare Part D Data for Research.

This presentation reviews the "cost" variables found in the Part D Event data. Researchers can determine the "point of sale" cost to the beneficiary. Other variables reviewed in this presentation include the gross drug cost, the patient pay amount, the low income subsidy amount, the other true out-of-pocket amount, patient liability reduction amount, and the covered and non-covered plan paid amounts.

This video is one segment in a series of videos from ResDAC’s Introduction to the Use of Medicare Part D Data for Research.

This presentation discusses the specific PDE variables that are related to medication utilization. This presentation also provides an in-depth discussion of different types of medication adherence measurements in the literature. Lastly, two main definitions and calculations of Medication Possession Ratio (MPR) are reviewed.

This presentation provides a background on risk adjustment, including the general program and policy goals of risk adjustment, the history of risk adjustment, and an overview of risk adjustment systems. It also goes into detail on one risk adjustment model, the Chronic Illness Disability payment system, and describes how diagnostic and pharmacy based models can be used to measure illness burden and to adjust payments to health plans that enroll Medicaid beneficiaries.

This presentation uses MAX data to explore three research questions related to geographic variation in Medicaid expenditures:

• Does interstate variation in Medicaid spending result primarily from variation in the volume of services or in the price per unit of service?
• How do inter- and intrastate variation in Medicaid utilization and spending compare to variation in Medicare spending and utilization?
• Is more health care better for Medicaid beneficiaries?

This presentation outlines several useful algorithms that can be used to summarize Medicaid eligibility category, coverage by managed care, use of inpatient physician services, mental health services, and common groupings of expenditures.