Beneficiary reported experience and voluntary disenrollment in Medicare managed care.

Disenrollment rates have often been used as indicators of health plan quality, because they are readily available and easily understood by purchasers, health plans, and consumers. Over the past few years, however, indicators that more directly measure technical quality and consumer experiences with care have become available. In this observational study, we examined the relationship between voluntary disenrollment rates from Medicare managed care (MMC) plans and other measures of health plan quality. The results demonstrate that voluntary disenrollment rates are strongly related to direct measures of patient experiences with care and are an important complement to other measures of health plan performance.

Combining health plan performance indicators into simpler composite measures.

We investigated how the Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Study (CAHPS) survey and the Health Plan Employer Data Information System (HEDIS) measures from Medicare managed care (MMC) plans could be combined into fewer summary performance scores. Four scores summarize most of the variability in these measures, representing (1) care at the doctor's office, (2) customer service and access, (3) vaccinations, and (4) clinical quality measures. These summaries are substantively interpretable, internally consistent, and describe the majority of variation among units in the performance scores analyzed.

Evolving dissatisfaction among primary care physicians.

OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in career satisfaction among physicians working with managed care plans. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1996 and 1999. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: We surveyed primary care physicians (PCPs) affiliated with 5 large health plans in Massachusetts and assessed physicians' ratings of overall satisfaction with their current practice situation and with managed care. RESULTS: A total of 1336 PCPs (56%) responded to the 1996 survey and 966 (42%) responded to the 1999 survey. In 1996, 19.8% of physicians were somewhat or very dissatisfied with their current practice situation vs 33.4% in 1999, an increase of more than 50% (P < .001). Overall dissatisfaction with managed care increased from 28.3% to 62.2% (P < .001). In multivariable models, external influences on physicians' practices were important predictors of overall dissatisfaction. Physicians whose choice of hospitals was restricted (odds ratio, 2.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-3.78) and those who reported that managed care plans influenced their practice "a lot" (odds ratio, 1.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-3.11) were more likely to be dissatisfied. Adequacy of reimbursement was an important predictor of overall satisfaction and satisfaction with managed care, and ways physicians experienced financial incentives were associated with managed care dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care physicians in Massachusetts are increasingly dissatisfied with their practice and with managed care. Continued erosion of physician satisfaction could have significant implications for quality of care and the quality of the workforce attracted to medicine as a career.

The influence of patient characteristics on ratings of managed behavioral health care.

Despite current emphasis on consumer-based performance measures, little is known about factors that influence consumer ratings of behavioral health care. This study examines the influence of patient characteristics, health care use, and insurance coverage on patients' ratings of their managed behavioral health care in both commercial and public plans. Older and healthier patients rated their behavioral health care and health plan more highly than did other patients. Patients with less education and those whose insurance paid all costs of care gave consistently higher plan ratings. Women and frequent users enrolled in commercial plans gave more positive care ratings. After adjusting for enrollee characteristics and coverage, there were no differences between ratings of patients in commercial and public plans. These results are consistent with other research that illustrates the importance of adjusting health care ratings for patient characteristics when comparing plans.

Similarities and differences in choosing health plans.

BACKGROUND: Increasingly, consumers have multiple health insurance options. New information is being developed to help consumers with these choices. OBJECTIVES: To study similarities and differences in how the publicly and privately insured choose health plans. To explore the effect of traditional enrollment materials and reports developed by the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAHPS) on consumers' perceptions and decision-making. RESEARCH DESIGN: Using data from eight CAHPS demonstrations, we tested for significant differences across consumers with employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare. SUBJECTS: Approximately 10,000 consumers with employer-sponsored, Medicaid, and Medicare health plans. MEASURES: Perceptions of the health plan selection process, use of information sources, and reactions to and use of traditional enrollment materials and CAHPS reports. RESULTS: Most consumers with all types of insurance thought that choosing a health plan was important and obtained information from multiple sources. Choosing a plan was more difficult for Medicare and Medicaid recipients than for the privately insured. When choosing a plan, Medicaid recipients cared most about convenience and access, whereas the privately insured emphasized providers and costs. The percentage of consumers who looked at and remembered the CAHPS report varied widely from 24% to 77%. In all but one of the demonstration sites, most consumers spent less than 30 minutes looking at the CAHPS report. CONCLUSIONS: Group sponsors and the developers of information interventions such as CAHPS may need to invest in developing and testing different reporting approaches for Medicare, Medicaid, and privately insured consumers.

Adjusting Performance Measures to Ensure Equitable Plan Comparisons.

When comparing health plans on scores from the Medicare Managed Care Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (MMC-CAHPS®) survey, the results should be adjusted for patient characteristics, not under the control of health plans, that might affect survey results. We developed an adjustment model that uses self-reported measures of health status, age, education, and whether someone helped the respondent with the questionnaire. The associations of health and education with survey responses differed by HCFA administrative region. Consequently, we recommend that the case-mix model include regional interactions. Analyses of the impact of adjustment show that the adjustments were usually small but not negligible.