Bundled Payment Episodes Initiated by Physician Group Practices: Medicare Beneficiary Perceptions of Care Quality

Impact of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model on patient-reported outcomes

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model, a mandatory episode-based payment program for knee and hip replacement surgery, affected patient-reported measures of quality.

DATA SOURCES

Surveys of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who had hip or knee replacement surgery, collected between July 2018 and March 2019, secondary Medicare administrative data, the Provider of Services file, CJR and Bundled Payments for Care Improvement participant lists from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Area Health Resource Files.

STUDY DESIGN

In 2018, participation in the CJR model was mandatory for nearly all hospitals in 34 randomly selected, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that had high historical Medicare payments for lower-extremity joint replacements surgery. The control group included 47 high-payment MSAs randomly assigned as controls. We estimated risk-adjusted differences in self-reported measures of functional status and pain, satisfaction with care, and caregiver help between respondents in CJR hospitals and respondents in hospitals located in the control group.

DATA COLLECTION

We selected a census of CJR patients and an equal number of control patients to survey. We fielded two waves of surveys using a mail and phone protocol, yielding 8433 CJR and 9014 control respondents.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

CJR respondents were slightly more likely to depend on caregivers for certain activities of daily living when they got home (either directly from the hospital or after an institutional post-acute care stay). On a 100-point scale, differences ranged from -2.6 points (p < 0.01) for help needed bathing to -1.7 points (p < 0.05) for help needed using the toilet. However, differences in eight measures of self-reported functional status approximately 90-120 days after hospital discharge were not statistically significant, ranging from -1.1% (p = 0.087) to 0.7% (p = 0.437).

CONCLUSIONS

CJR did not harm patient health or affect patient satisfaction on average but did increase reliance on caregivers during recovery.

Patient-reported Outcomes Among Vulnerable Populations in the Medicare Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative

BACKGROUND

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative tested whether episode-based payment models could reduce Medicare payments without harming quality. Among patients with vulnerabilities, BPCI appeared to effectively reduce payments while maintaining the quality of care. However, these findings could overlook potential adverse patient-reported outcomes in this population.

RESEARCH DESIGN

We surveyed beneficiaries with 4 characteristics (Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility; dementia; recent institutional care; or racial/ethnic minority) treated at BPCI-participating or comparison hospitals for congestive heart failure, sepsis, pneumonia, or major joint replacement of the lower extremity. We estimated risk-adjusted differences in patient-reported outcomes between BPCI and comparison respondents, stratified by clinical episode and vulnerable characteristic.

MEASURES

Patient care experiences during episodes of care and patient-reported functional outcomes assessed roughly 90 days after hospitalization.

RESULTS

We observed no differences in self-reported functional improvement between BPCI and comparison respondents with vulnerable characteristics. Patient-reported care experience was similar between BPCI and comparison respondents in 11 of 15 subgroups of clinical episode and vulnerability. BPCI respondents with congestive heart failure, sepsis, and pneumonia were less likely to indicate positive care experiences than comparison respondents for at least 1 subgroup with vulnerabilities.

CONCLUSIONS

As implemented by hospitals, BPCI Model 2 was not associated with adverse effects on patient-reported functional status among beneficiaries who may be vulnerable to reductions in care. Hospitals participating in heart failure, sepsis or pneumonia bundled payment episodes should focus on patient care experience while implementing changes in care delivery.