Table 2. Beneficiary and Physician Characteristicsa.
| Characteristic | Data |
|---|---|
| Beneficiaries | |
| No. of beneficiaries | 3 159 834 |
| No. of beneficiary-years observed | 10 199 293 |
| Age, mean (SD), y | 73.2 (11.0) |
| Female, % | 58.3 |
| Race/ethnicity, % | |
| White | 90.1 |
| Black | 6.9 |
| Hispanic | 0.8 |
| Other | 2.1 |
| Medicaid recipient, % | 14.3 |
| Disabled, %b | 18.5 |
| End-stage renal disease, % | 0.8 |
| No. of CCW conditionsc | |
| Total, mean (SD) | 5.4 (2.6) |
| ≥6, % | 47.7 |
| ≥9, % | 18.5 |
| Qualified low-value service measure denominators, mean (SD) | 6.7 (1.6) |
| ZCTA characteristics for those aged ≥65 y | |
| Median income (SD), $ | 39 532 (13 947) |
| Below FPL, % | 8.2 |
| With high school degree, % | 77.3 |
| With college degree, % | 20.7 |
| Physicians | |
| No. of physicians | 41 773 |
| Medicare panel size FFS beneficiaries per y, mean (SD) | 275.6 (170.2) |
| Age, mean (SD), y | 48.0 (10.1) |
| Female, % | 25.1 |
| MD (vs DO) academic degree, % | 94.0 |
| Foreign medical school graduate | 17.7 |
| Graduate of medical school in US News and World Report 2013 top 20 rank, % | 7.8 |
| Academic title, % | |
| Full professor | 0.5 |
| Associate professor | 1.0 |
| Assistant professor | 2.7 |
| No professorship | 95.8 |
| Publication author, % | 17.7 |
| No. of publications authored, mean (SD) | 1.1 (6.9) |
| Clinical trial investigator, % | 0.4 |
| NIH grant recipient, % | 0.3 |
| Recipient of pharmaceutical/device company payments, % | 54.7 |
| Mean (SD) pharmaceutical/device company payments, $ | 665.1 (8216.8) |
| No. of low-value services per 100 beneficiaries, mean (SD) | 33.1 (14.4) |
| No. of organizations | 6771 |
| No. of physicians per organization, mean (SD) per y | 6.2 (10.2) |
Abbreviations: CCW, Chronic Conditions Data Warehouse; DO, doctor of osteopathy; FFS, fee-for-service; FPL, federal poverty level; MD, doctor of medicine; NIH, National Institutes of Health; ZCTA, zip code tabulation area.
Estimates are derived from 2008-2013 data. All means (SDs) and percentages are unadjusted.
Refers to beneficiaries for whom disability was the original reason for Medicare eligibility.
Chronic conditions include the following 27 conditions from the CCW: acute myocardial infarction, Alzheimer disease, Alzheimer disease and related disorders or senile dementia, anemia, asthma, atrial fibrillation, benign prostatic hyperplasia, breast cancer, cataracts, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colorectal cancer, depression, diabetes, endometrial cancer, heart failure, hip or pelvic fracture, glaucoma, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, ischemic heart disease, lung cancer, osteoporosis, prostate cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, and stroke or transient ischemic attack.