Table 4. Cascade-Attributable Event Rates and Spending Following Routine Thyrotropin Test During an Annual Wellness Visit.
| Event rate per 100 beneficiaries | Exposure group (n = 6534) | Comparison group (n = 68 741) | Cascade-attributable event rate | Adjusted cascade-attributable event rate (95% CI)a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All eventsb | 9.0 | 8.8 | 0.2 | −0.99 (−1.72 to −0.26) |
| Laboratory tests | 2.7 | 2.8 | −0.1 | −0.43 (−0.74 to −0.12) |
| Imaging | 0.4 | 0.6 | −0.2 | −0.21 (−0.39 to −0.04) |
| Procedures | 1.4 | 1.5 | −0.1 | −0.26 (−0.54 to 0.01) |
| Visits | 4.1 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.21 (−0.29 to 0.70) |
| Hospitalizations | NRb | NRb | NRb | NRb |
| New diagnoses | 0.4 | 0.4 | −0.1 | −0.04 (−0.18 to 0.10) |
| Allowable charges per beneficiary, mean (SD), $ | ||||
| Allowable charges related to cascade events in 90-d period, excluding hospitalizationsc | 7.6 | 6.5 | 1.1 | 0.02 (−1.00 to 1.05) |
| Total Medicare-allowable charges in 90-d period | 2562.1 | 2816.7 | NA | NA |
Abbreviations: ECG, electrocardiogram; HRR, hospital referral region; NA, not applicable; NR, not reported.
a
This multivariable model includes the following covariates: age, sex, race, Medicaid enrollment, disability, Elixhauser condition count, residential setting, region, area-level income, clinician specialty, Accountable Care Organization status, visit co-billed status, HRR random effects, receipt of ECG, and receipt of urinalysis.
b
Entries with 11 or fewer events are not reported in accordance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data use agreement.
c
To meet this requirement, we excluded hospitalizations from all event totals in this table.