ADVI Health Strategic Analytics, Value and Economics (SAVEs) data analyst, David Liu, and the team presented four poster presentations at ISPOR 2024. One of the studies analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare utilization among Medicare beneficiaries with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

This research study had two primary objectives.

First, to assess how the pandemic influenced healthcare services, such as inpatient care, emergency room visits, hospital outpatient visits, and physician office consultations.

Secondly, understand the long-term effects of the pandemic on healthcare utilization trends for CVD patients. The team analyzed data from 22 million CVD patients using 100% Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) data from 2018 to 2023.

The analysis revealed significant reductions in healthcare services during the pandemic. The expected average hospital inpatient rate was predicted to be around 50 per 10,000 beneficiaries per month between April and July 2020. However, during the pandemic, the observed average inpatient visit rate dropped to 32 per 10,000 beneficiaries.

Outpatient and physician office services experienced a 4.5 percent decrease in visit rate per 10,000 beneficiaries during the pandemic. Inpatient service use saw a minor reduction post-pandemic by 0.7 percent. Skilled nursing facility services showed a 1.8 percent decrease post-pandemic, although the drop during the pandemic was non-significant.

These findings indicate that the pandemic has led to lasting changes in healthcare utilization among cardiovascular disease patients in the Medicare population.

Moving forward, healthcare systems must recognize and address these changes to ensure ongoing and enhanced care for CVD patients.

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ADVI experts will continue analyzing Medicare data trends to deepen our understanding of the pandemic’s impact on healthcare utilization and to help develop effective strategies for improving patient care. Get in touch today to gain expert insights on the evolving healthcare landscape.