Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-13-2017
Publication Title
BMC Health Services Research
DOI
10.1186/s12913-017-2216-1
ISSN
1472-6963
Abstract
Background: This study seeks to quantify variation in healthcare utilization and per capita costs using system-defined geographic regions based on enrollee residence within the Military Health System (MHS).
Methods: Data for fiscal years 2007 – 2010 were obtained from the Military Health System under a data sharing agreement with the Defense Health Agency (DHA). DHA manages all aspects of the Department of Defense Military Health System, including TRICARE. Adjusted rates were calculated for per capita costs and for two procedures with high interest to the MHS- back surgery and Cesarean sections for TRICARE Prime and Plus enrollees. Coefficients of variation (CoV) and interquartile ranges (IQR) were calculated and analyzed using residence catchment area as the geographic unit. Catchment areas anchored by a Military Treatment Facility (MTF) were compared to catchment areas not anchored by a MTF.
Results: Variation, as measured by CoV, was 0.37 for back surgery and 0.13 for C-sections in FY 2010- comparable to rates documented in other healthcare systems. The 2010 CoV (and average cost) for per capita costs was 0.26 ($3,479.51). Procedure rates were generally lower and CoVs higher in regions anchored by a MTF compared with regions not anchored by a MTF, based on both system-wide comparisons and comparisons of neighboring areas.
Conclusions: In spite of its centrally managed system and relatively healthy beneficiaries with very robust health benefits, the MHS is not immune to unexplained variation in utilization and cost of healthcare.
Recommended Citation
Kimsey, Linda G., Samuel Olaiya, Chad Smith, Andrew Hoburg, Stuart R. Lipsitz, Tracey Koehlmoos, Louis L. Nguyen, Joel S. Weissman.
2017.
"Geographic Variation Within the Military Health System."
BMC Health Services Research, 17 (1): 271-278.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-017-2216-1 source: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2216-1
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/health-policy-facpubs/164
Comments
Copyright Statement: Copyright © Linda G. Kimsey, Samuel Olaiya, Chad Smith, et al. 2017. Open Access.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.