Archive | 2019
The Long-Term Effect of Health-Related Online Use on Healthcare Utilization and Expenditures Among Older Adults
Abstract
The study objective is to assess the long-term effect of registering for an online-based wellness program on healthcare utilization and expenditures among the elderly. The associational relationship was measured using a combined propensity score matching (PSM) and interrupted time series (ITS) method. We utilized expansive data—online activity data of the wellness program, administrative claims data, and consumer data—of 332,911 adults aged 65 and older with Medicare Advantage coverage from a health plan, who had one year of data from the pre-registration period (2016) and two years of data from the post-registration period (2017–2018). After using PSM to control for demographic and health characteristics, and insurance type between registered persons and persons without online access (reference group), we found lower costs of $86 per member per month (PMPM) among registered seniors in the second year of online registration, compared to seniors without online access (p < 0.001). We also observed fewer emergency room visits among the registered group (p < 0.001), but no significant difference in hospital admission rates.