The Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) is a consortium of four universities: Boston University School of Medicine, Dartmouth College Medical School and the Morehouse School of Medicine, and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. It receives support from the Health Care Financing Administration to train researchers in how to access and use Medicare and Medicare administrative and other data. ResDAC faculty, using Medicare administrative and survey data (Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey - MCBS), have demonstrated major differences in the use of hospital, physician and preventive services, as well as outcomes of care, between African American and Caucasian elderly Medicare beneficiaries. This session will provide the background needed to understand the race and other important variables in the Medicare administrative data and present recent work that demonstrates the continuing underutilization of Medicare reimbursed services by African Americans, as well as its impact on the outcomes of care. Because additional research is needed to elucidate the reasons for these continuing disparities, the session will also describe how interested researchers may receive assistance from the Research Data Assistance Center to access and use the Medicare data files for their research.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to: 1. Identify the strengths and limitations of the race and related variables in the Medicare administrative data files for understanding access to, and the use of, health services; 2. Understand the differences in the use of preventive health services among African American and Caucasian Medicare beneficiaries; 3. Understand the differences in the outcomes of care for two chronic diseases, breast cancer and ESRD, among African American and Caucasian medicare beneficiaries; 4. Request Medicare data for research purposes from the Health Care Financing Administration, and request assistance from the Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) in accessing and using Medicare data
Keywords: Access to Health Care, Medicare
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.