Table 2.
Characteristics of VAMCs and spending and use outcome measures (shaded) for fiscal year 2008 overall and by quartile of spending.
| Quartiles of Spending | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | (1) Lowest | (2) | (3) | (4) Highest | |
| Lipid-Lowering Agents | |||||
| Percent of Veterans 65+ a | 46.8 | 46.0 | 47.9 | 46.7 | 46.5 |
| Number of outpatient visits a | 364,398 | 401,474 | 360,687 | 391,816 | 347,159 |
| Percent of Veterans without insurance | 42.6 | 41.8 | 39.7 | 44.8 | 44.9 |
| Number of Veterans on lipid-lowering agents | 15,656 | 18,244 | 15,018 | 16,703 | 14,377 |
| Percent of Veterans on lipid-lowering agentsb | 49.8 | 51.6 | 49.7 | 49.4 | 50.8 |
| Percent high complexity VAMCs(1a or 1b)c | 35.6 | 46.9 | 22.86 | 38.2 | 35.3 |
| Cost/Patient ($) ** | 49.60 | 39.68 | 47.31 | 55.76 | 69.57 |
| Cost/30-Day Prescription ($) ** | 5.22 | 4.06 | 4.86 | 5.68 | 7.12 |
| Brand-name agents (mean % of patients)** | 11.4 | 7.7 | 9.6 | 12.7 | 15.5 |
| Diabetes Agents | |||||
| Percent of Veterans 65+a | 46.8 | 45.5 | 46.8 | 49.0 | 45.5 |
| Number of outpatient visits a | 364,398 | 415,791 | 337,061 | 335,692 | 362,845 |
| Percent of Veterans without insurance | 42.6 | 44.8 | 40.2 | 43.1 | 43.6 |
| Number of Veterans on diabetes agents | 6,540 | 6,961 | 6,466 | 6,352 | 6,352 |
| Percent of Veterans on diabetes agentsb | 20.5 | 21.1 | 21.4 | 20.3 | 19.8 |
| Percent of Veterans on diabetes agents using who use Insulin* | 32.9 | 33.3 | 34.1 | 32.8 | 31.0 |
| Percent high complexity VAMCs(1a or 1b)c | 35.6 | 45.5 | 29.4 | 38.2 | 29.4 |
| Cost/Patient ($) ** | 158.34 | 123.34 | 146.47 | 172.53 | 198.31 |
| Cost/30-Day Prescription ($) ** | 10.65 | 8.67 | 9.83 | 11.47 | 13.24 |
| Thiazolidinedione use (mean % of patients) ** | 9.0 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 10.4 | 13.0 |
N= 135. Note that spending quartiles are calculated separately for each class. All values are median VAMC values, unless otherwise noted (e.g. number of outpatient visits is the median number of outpatient visits at VAMCs, for the overall sample of 135 VAMCs and for VAMCs in each quartile.)
a
The denominator is all Veterans enrolled in the VAMC.
b
The denominator is all Veterans filling at least 1 prescription of any kind
c
The percent of all VAMCs in the sample that are rated 1a or 1b on the VA complexity scale
*
p<.05 for overall difference across the quartiles
**
p <.001 for overall difference across the quartiles