Hospital-Operated Medicare Advantage Plans and Care Utilization and Outcomes After Inpatient Admissions

In this cross-sectional study of major inpatient episodes among MA beneficiaries, hospital-operated MA plan enrollment was associated with distinct post–acute care utilization patterns, lower episode spending, and no evidence of worse clinical outcomes. These findings suggest that vertical integration between health systems and health plans may be associated with more efficient and coordinated care delivery.

Corresponding Author: Thomas C. Tsai, MD, MPH, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115 (ttsai@hsph.harvard.edu).

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