Humana Research on Medication Adherence and Medicare Advantage Wins Prestigious Awards
Award-winning research showed a lower mortality rate for Medicare
Advantage members; demonstrated that medication adherence is associated
with more Healthy Days
LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Two researchers from Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) have been recognized for
their research by the American College of Preventive Medicine.
Tristan Cordier, MPH, Manager on the Clinical Insights and Outcomes team
in Humana’s Clinical Analytics department, won the award for Outstanding
Oral Presentation at the group’s annual conference in February for his work
on the impact of medication adherence on self-reported mental and
physical health.
At the same conference, Sean Mendes, a Senior Actuarial Analyst on
Humana’s Medicare Actuarial team, won Best Poster Presentation for work
that assessed mortality rates among Medicare recipients. Mendes showed
that members of Humana’s Medicare Advantage plan had a mortality rate
that was 20 percent lower than they would be expected to if they were on
traditional Medicare.
Medication adherence leads to more healthy days
Cordier was recognized for his presentation, Do
People Who are Adherent to Their Medications Have Fewer Unhealthy Days?
The research he shared broke new ground by measuring the impact not
taking medication as prescribed has on population health by using a
survey tool called Healthy Days.
Healthy
Days is a four-question survey developed and validated by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It asks people how
they perceive their recent health and how many days over the previous
month they felt physically or mentally unwell.
A team of Humana researchers led by Cordier assessed whether Medicare
members over the age of 65 had taken medication as prescribed in 2013
and 2014. They then compared that data to the group’s Healthy Days
reports over the same period.
“We found that medication adherence was associated with reports of more
healthy days, both physically and mentally,” Cordier said of the team’s
analysis, which also took into account factors such as age, sex, and
Medicaid eligibility.
“There is already evidence that Healthy Days is tied to clinical
outcomes like lowering blood glucose levels and avoiding heart attacks,”
said Todd Prewitt, MD, Humana’s Director of Clinical Best Practices and
a co-author of the presentation. “The results show that Healthy Days may
be an indicator of health behaviors, like medication adherence.”
The presentation was also co-authored by Humana associates Lane
Slabaugh, PharmD, MBA; Peinie Young, PharmD; Eric Havens, MA; and
Humana’s Enterprise Vice President for Clinical Analytics, Vipin Gopal,
PhD.
A unique assessment of Medicare Advantage
Mendes won his award for the poster presentation Disparities
in Mortality Outcomes in Medicare.
His work shows that those who were covered by Humana’s Medicare
Advantage plan had a lower mortality rate when compared to a similar
sample of people in traditional Medicare.
“Overall we’re seeing a reduction in mortality of 20 percent,” Mendes
said. “In areas where we usually see large disparities in member health,
such as income level and race, we see an even greater reduction in
mortality, which suggests that we’re closing some gaps in care.”
Mendes used a sample of 1.5 million members of traditional Medicare,
obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to develop
a model that predicts mortality rates.
He then applied that model to 5.5 million people in the Humana Medicare
Advantage plan to predict their estimated mortality rate under
traditional Medicare for that group. The mortality rate should have been
3.7 percent had the group been part of traditional Medicare, but on
Humana’s Medicare Advantage program, the group actually had a mortality
rate of only 2.9 percent, a statistically significant difference.
Ariel Caplan, a Strategic Consultant from Humana’s Medicare Actuarial
team, Vanessa Olson, Chief Medicare Actuary, and Dr. Roy Beveridge,
Humana’s Chief Medical Officer, also co-authored the poster.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health and
well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their
best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. The
company’s strategy integrates care delivery, the member experience, and
clinical and consumer insights to encourage engagement, behavior change,
proactive clinical outreach and wellness for the millions of people we
serve across the country.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the
Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at www.humana.com,
including copies of:
- Annual reports to stockholders
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Most recent investor conference presentations
- Quarterly earnings news releases
- Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
- Calendar of events
- Corporate Governance information
Contacts
Humana Inc.
Alex Kepnes, 502-580-2990
Corporate Communications
akepnes@humana.com
