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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

David Newman, PhD, JD, Abt Associates, Inc., Suite 800 North, 4550 Montgomery Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814, Beth Simon, PhD, Center for Beneficiary Choices, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd., Mail Stop S1-13-05, Baltimore, MD 21244, and Erika Heaton, Center on Evidence-Based Medicine, Avalere Health LLC, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20036, 202.207.3467, eheaton@avalerehealth.net.

In recent years, Medicare has expanded the set of covered preventive services and, equally importantly, has expanded the utilization of these services by covered beneficiaries. This study explores how certain segments of beneficiaries access preventive services at different rates. This study, using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and multivariate methods, describes the characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries receiving and forgoing receipt of five covered preventive services: two for both men and women (flu and pneumonia immunizations, two for women (mammograms and Pap smears) and one for men (prostate examinations--either a digital rectal examination (DRE) or a prostate specific antigen blood test (PSA test)). Those who are not receiving preventive care tend to be the less educated, the poor, those in fair to poor health status, the older old, and those without a regular source of care or not in an HMO. Moreover, despite increasing utilization of preventive services, less than a fifth of female Medicare beneficiaries reported receiving all four preventive services available to women and only about half of the male Medicare beneficiaries reported having received the three preventive services available to men. This research clarifies which beneficiary segments are utilizing/underutilizing preventive services. Such information can be used by CMS to guide educational and outreach efforts that encourage beneficiaries to make important decisions about their health care.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, the participant will be able to

• Describe segments of Medicare beneficiaries who utilize/underutilize preventive services
• Compare predictors of utilization of preventive services across beneficiary segments and preventive services
• Identify potential educational/outreach strategies to increase utilization of preventive services among underserved Medicare beneficiaries

Keywords: Medicare, Preventive Medicine

Related Web page: www.medicare.gov

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered