Medicare Part D and potentially inappropriate medication use in the elderly.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Inappropriate medication use, which is common in older adults, may be responsive to out-of-pocket costs. We examined the impact of Medicare Part D on inappropriate medication use among Medicare beneficiaries.

Study design

Pre-post with comparison group.

Methods

Using data from 34,679 elderly beneficiaries in Medicare plans from 2004 to 2007, we used Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set measures of prescribing quality: (1) any use of Drugs to Avoid in the Elderly (DAE), (2) a proportion of total medication use attributable to DAEs, and (3) any Potentially Harmful Drug-Disease Interactions in the Elderly (DDE). Rates of inappropriate use among 3 groups transitioning from no drug coverage or limited coverage ($150 or $350 quarterly caps) to Part D

SUBMITTER: Donohue JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3622552 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature