Exploring Cost and Quality of Medicare in the United States using Analytics

In this research, the authors explore the association of cost and quality of care indicators for Medicare in the United States. Using analytics they offer a portfolio of influencing factors and geographic areas that are most and least expensive for Medicare recipients. The cost indicator includes Medicare charges; the quality of care indicators include hospital location, number of discharges, readmissions, mortality rate, age, percentages of uninsured population and population aged 65 and older. The results indicate that Medicare cost is not positively associated with quality of care, suggesting that patients in higher-priced facilities do not necessarily receive better quality of care. Moreover, there are regional cost variances for the same procedure. The authors show how a national effort to standardize costs of heart-related Medicare procedures could result in substantial savings in healthcare spending. They offer healthcare agencies and hospitals actionable insights for improving operational efficiency and providing more affordable care.