This continuing series of reports, published by the DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions about Effectiveness) Network provides new information and insights into the use of health care services and interventions for the treatment, management, and diagnosis of specific diseases, it also highlights the variations and potential disparities in health care services across patient subpopulations. The reports provide brief descriptive statistics, background information, and analytic tables on a variety of specific, focused topics. Certain reports will present new statistics on topics such as disease incidence, prevalence, and burden of illness and outcomes such as hospital readmission, morbidity, and mortality. The series reports will generally summarize the basic demographic and geographic breakdowns of the data, with additional details provided in statistical tables that can be downloaded from this Web site.

Overall, the report series will assist stakeholders in describing important trends in health care and in identifying research questions for new studies on comparative effectiveness and patient-centered outcomes. Researchers from the DEcIDE Network will initially use existing health care databases, particularly those available from the Federal Medicare program, to produce the reports.

Contents

• Echocardiography Trends
  • Data Points #20. Trends in the use of echocardiography, 2007 to 2011
    Beth A Virnig, Nathan D Shippee, Brian O'Donnell, Jessica Zeglin, and Shriram Parashuram.
    Published: May 13, 2014.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
    • APPENDICES
• Medication Use in Medicare
  • Data Points #19. Medication use among Medicare beneficiaries with medical and psychiatric conditions, 2009-2011
    Nathan D Shippee, Kristofer Hall, Jessica Zeglin, Brian O'Donnell, and Beth A Virnig.
    Published: April 23, 2014.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
    • APPENDICES
• Use of Diabetes Care
  • Data Points # 18. Use of and access to health care by Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes: impact of diabetes type and insulin use, 2007-2011
    Beth A Virnig, Nathan D Shippee, Brian O'Donnell, Jessica Zeglin, and Shriram Parashuram.
    Published: January 29, 2014.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
• Trends in Bariatric Surgery
  • Data Points # 17. Trends in bariatric surgery in Medicare beneficiaries
    Elizabeth B Habermann, Sara B Durham, Robert Dorman, Stephanie Jarosek, and Beth A Virnig.
    Published: November 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
    • APPENDICES
• Types of Prostate Radiation
  • Data Points # 16. Changes across time and geography in the use of prostate radiation technologies for newly diagnosed older cancer patients: 2006–2008
    Sean P Elliott, Stephanie L Jarosek, and Beth A Virnig.
    Published: November 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
• Breast Cancer
  • Data Points # 15. Prognostic factor testing among older women with ductal carcinoma in situ and early invasive breast cancer
    Stephanie Jarosek, Todd M Tuttle, Sara Durham, and Beth A Virnig.
    Published: August 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
    • APPENDICES
  • Data Points # 14. Use of endocrine therapy following diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ or early invasive breast cancer
    Beth A Virnig, Michael T Torchia, Stephanie L Jarosek, Sara Durham, and Todd M Tuttle.
    Published: August 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • LIMITATIONS
    • CONCLUSION
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
    • APPENDICES
  • Data Points # 13. Use of preoperative MRI among older women with ductal carcinoma in situ and locally invasive breast cancer
    Todd M Tuttle, Stephanie Jarosek, Sara Durham, and Beth A Virnig.
    Published: August 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
• Newly Medicare-Eligible Elders and Disabled
  • Data Points # 12. Health care use in the first six months of Medicare eligibility for elders: impact of state support
    Beth A Virnig, Robert L Kane, David Skellan, and Brian O’Donnell.
    Published: June 15, 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
    • APPENDICES
  • Data Points # 11. Newly Medicare-eligible disabled: comparison of duals and nonduals
    Beth A Virnig, David Skellan, Brian O’Donnell, and Robert L Kane.
    Published: June 15, 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
    • APPENDICES
• Proton Beam Radiotherapy
  • Data Points # 10. Proton beam radiotherapy in the U.S. Medicare population: growth in use between 2006 and 2009
    Stephanie Jarosek, Sean Elliott, and Beth A Virnig.
    Published: May 7, 2012.
    • METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
• Diabetes Treatment
  • Data Points #9. Utilization of antidiabetic drugs among Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, 2006-2009
    David J Margolis, Charles E Leonard, Hanieh Razzaghi, Ole J Hoffstad, Cristin P Freeman, Karla López de Nava, Teresa Molina, Yang Tan, and Barbara A Bartman.
    Published: April 5, 2012.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE
    • STUDY PERIOD
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODS
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • References
    • Acknowledgments
• Cardiovascular Issues
  • Data Points #8. Utilization of antihypertensive drug classes among Medicare beneficiaries with hypertension, 2007 to 2009
    Raymond R Townsend, Charles E Leonard, Karla López de Nava, Teresa Molina, Christina Kang-Yi, and Cristin P Freeman.
    Published: November 16, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE
    • STUDY PERIOD
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODS
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
• Anticancer Biologics
  • Data Points #7. Utilization of anticancer biologic products among Medicare beneficiaries, by diagnostic cancer subchapter, 2006–2009
    Cristin P Freeman, Charles E Leonard, Karla López de Nava, Teresa Molina, and Thomas MaCurdy.
    Published: August 26, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE
    • STUDY PERIOD
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODS
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
  • Data Points #6. Utilization and cost of anticancer biologic products among Medicare beneficiaries, 2006–2009
    Charles E Leonard, Cristin P Freeman, Thomas MaCurdy, Karla López de Nava, Teresa Molina, Christina D Kang-Yi, and Weijing Sun.
    Published: August 26, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE
    • STUDY PERIOD
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
• Utilization and Costs
  • Data Points #5. Prevalence and Medicare reimbursement by recurrent international classification of diseases categories, 2006–2009
    Charles E Leonard, Cristin P Freeman, Thomas MaCurdy, Craig A Umscheid, Karla López de Nava, Teresa Molina, Sean MaCurdy, Christina D Kang-Yi, Hanieh Razzaghi, and David Hsia.
    Published: June 23, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE
    • STUDY PERIOD
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODS
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
• Erythropoietins
  • Data Points #4. Trends in the utilization of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents among Medicare beneficiaries with kidney disease
    Thomas MaCurdy, Jonathan Gibbs, Karla López de Nava, Azucena Monroy, Michael Wernecke, Sonam Sherpa, Guan Wang, Stephanie Young, and Charles E Leonard.
    Published: March 31, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE AND STUDY PERIOD
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
• Diabetic Foot Ulcers
  • Data Points #3. Economic burden of diabetic foot ulcers and amputations
    David J Margolis, D Scot Malay, Ole J Hoffstad, Charles E Leonard, Thomas MaCurdy, Yang Tan, Teresa Molina, Karla López de Nava, and Karen L Siegel.
    Published: March 8, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
  • Data Points #2. Incidence of diabetic foot ulcer and lower extremity amputation among Medicare beneficiaries, 2006 to 2008
    David J Margolis, D Scot Malay, Ole J Hoffstad, Charles E Leonard, Thomas MaCurdy, Karla López de Nava, Yang Tan, Teresa Molina, and Karen L Siegel.
    Published: February 17, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • DATA SOURCE
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments
  • Data Points #1. Prevalence of diabetes, diabetic foot ulcer, and lower extremity amputation among Medicare beneficiaries, 2006 to 2008
    David J Margolis, D Scot Malay, Ole J Hoffstad, Charles E Leonard, Thomas MaCurdy, Karla López de Nava, Yang Tan, Teresa Molina, and Karen L Siegel.
    Published: February 17, 2011.
    • FINDINGS
    • ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE
    • DATA SOURCE
    • DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY
    • REFERENCES
    • Acknowledgments