Assessing Costs & Cost-variability Among Enrollees of Health Insurance Programs Utilizing Charlson's Comorbidity Index and Administrative Databases

Weill Medical College of Cornell University241,000 enrolled

Overview

This study will involve the evaluation of the cost profile of about approximately 241,000 patients (15,000 who are members of the Generations Plus/ Northern Manhattan Health Network AND 226,000 members of a large self insured union trust fund). We will test the hypothesis that as comorbidity scores exceed three-four, patients will have an exponential increase in average yearly cost with a parallel exponential increase in cost variability. We will examine the relationship between comorbidity and health insurance costs and variability in costs among patients enrolled in health plans.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

241,000

Conditions

Multiple Chronic Illnesses

Eligibility

Sex: ALL

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * patients with different burdens of comorbidity who have at least two continuous years of enrollment in the Generations Plus/ Northern Manhattan Health Network between June 2007 to July 2009 and members of a large self insured union trust fund from 2007-2010

Locations (1)

Generations Plus/ Northern Manhattan Health Network

The Bronx, New York, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Assessing costs & cost-variability among enrollees of health insurance programs utilizing Charlson's comorbidity index and administrative databases

Data for approximately 241,000 patients (15,000 who are members of the Generations Plus/ Northern Manhattan Health Network and 226,000 members of a large self insured union trust fund) during the calendar years 2006 and 2010 will be assembled and will include age, gender, length of plan enrollment, whether or not the patient is disabled, and their diagnoses. The data within this dataset was collected between July 2006 and July 2010.

Time frame: The data within this dataset was collected between July 2006 and July 2010.