Thomas J. Shaffer

TL;DR: Analysis of the Medicare Claims database suggests that vascular surgery is associated with substantial perioperative and long-term mortality and reinforces the need for a prospective evaluation of these practices.

TL;DR: Results from this study suggest that there is a subgroup of individuals with COPD who are likely to be very expensive during the year and this information will be useful to physicians as they monitor the care provided to patients and assess the financial risks they accept under capitation.

TL;DR: Little information is available about the costs, utilization patterns, and the delivery system used by Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illnesses, but this information will become increasingly important as more Medicare beneficiary with chronic illness enroll in managed care plans and delivery systems must be developed to meet their needs.

TL;DR: Because elderly beneficiaries with diabetes are more expensive than the average older adult, current Medicare capitation rates may be inadequate and methods to construct fair payment rates and safeguard quality of care are desirable.

TL;DR: Beneficiaries with diabetes are consistently more expensive than beneficiaries without diabetes and demographic and clinical factors at baseline are able to predict only a small portion of future expenditures among this population.