Geographic Variation in Low-Value Orthopedic Services Among Medicare-Enrolled Veterans
Sooyeon Song, Steven D. Pizer, Christine A. Yee, Samantha G. Auty · 2026
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Description
Sooyeon Song and three colleagues studied how often older veterans get orthopedic care that brings little or no benefit. Such low-value care wastes money and is a target of federal policy. The team asked whether use of these services varies by region, and whether regions high in one service are high in others.
The study used Medicare claims for veterans aged sixty-five and older who saw an orthopedic surgeon. It tracked five low-value services across hospital referral regions. Looking at services together matters for policy. If high use clusters in some regions, broad local fixes may work best. If each service varies on its own, fixes must target one service at a time.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Sooyeon Song, Steven D. Pizer, Christine A. Yee, Samantha G. Auty |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 8 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |