Evolution of Clinical Complexity, Treatment Burden, Health Care Use, and Diabetes-Related Outcomes Among Commercial and Medicare Advantage Plan Beneficiaries With Diabetes in the U.S., 2006-2018.

Abstract

To characterize trends in clinical complexity, treatment burden, health care use, and diabetes-related outcomes among adults with diabetes. We used a nationwide claims database to identify enrollees in commercial and Medicare Advantage plans who met claims criteria for diabetes between 1 January 2006 and 31 March 2019 and to quantify annual trends in clinical complexity (e.g., active health conditions), treatment burden (e.g., medications), health care use (e.g., ambulatory, emergency department [ED], and hospital visits), and diabetes-related outcomes (e.g., hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c] levels) between 2006 and 2018. Among 1,470,799 commercially insured patients, the proportion with ≥10 active health conditions increased from 33.3% (95% CI 33.1-33.4) in 2006 to 38.9% (38.8-39.1) in 2018 (P = 0.001) and the proportion taking three or more glucose-lowering medications increased from 11.6% (11.5-11.7) to 23.1% (22.9-23.2) (P = 0.007). The proportion with HbA1c ≥8.0% (≥64 mmol/mol) increased from 28.0% (27.7-28.3) in 2006 to 30.5% (30.2-30.7) in 2015, decreasing to 27.8% (27.5-28.0) in 2018 (overall trend P = 0.04). Number of ambulatory visits per patient per year decreased from 6.86 (6.84-6.88) to 6.19 (6.17-6.21), (P = 0.001) while ED visits increased from 0.26 (0.257-0.263) to 0.29 (0.287-0.293) (P = 0.001). Among 1,311,903 Medicare Advantage enrollees, the proportion with ≥10 active conditions increased from 51.6% (51.2-52.0) to 65.1% (65.0-65.2) (P < 0.001); the proportion taking three or more glucose-lowering medications was stable at 16.6% (16.3-16.9) and 18.1% (18.0-18.2) (P = 0.98), and the proportion with HbA1c ≥8.0% increased from 17.4% (16.7-18.1) to 18.6% (18.4-18.7) (P = 0.008). Ambulatory visits per patient per year remained stable at 8.01 (7.96-8.06) and 8.17 (8.16-8.19) (P = 0.23), but ED visits increased from 0.41 (0.40-0.42) to 0.66 (0.66-0.66) (P < 0.001). Among patients with diabetes, clinical complexity and treatment burden have increased over time. ED utilization has also increased, and patients may be using ED services for low-acuity conditions.