Policy Reforms to Change & Unify Medicare Provider Organization Practice Patterns Recommended to Address Geographic Variation in Medicare Utilization

Medicare policies should focus on unifying provider organization practice patterns through payment reform and oversight to smooth out geographic cost and utilization variations noted in fee-for-service Medicare. Cost and utilization variation among the 307 Medicare hospital referral regions (HRR) is due to multiple factors, such as the average beneficiary age in the HRR, input prices and the cost of living, the range of beneficiary health statuses, and patients’ care preferences. Because of this, the National Institute for Health Care Reform recommends that Medicare payment reform should focus on improving efficiency and value of health care by encouraging the . . .