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Using Medicare data to identify individuals who are electricity dependent to improve disaster preparedness and
Karen DeSalvo1, Nicole Lurie, Kristen Finne
1Karen DeSalvo, Ayame Dinkler, and Sarah Babcock are with the City of New Orleans Health Department, New Orleans, LA. Nicole Lurie and Kristen Finne are with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC. Chris Worrall and Jeffrey Kelman are with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Washington, DC. Alina Bogdanov is with Acumen LLC, Burlingame, CA.
Abstract:
During a disaster or prolonged power outage, individuals who use electricity-dependent medical equipment are often unable to operate it and seek care in acute care settings or local shelters. Public health officials often report that they do not have proactive and systematic ways to rapidly identify and assist these individuals. In June 2013, we piloted a first-in-the-nation emergency preparedness drill in which we used Medicare claims data to identify individuals with electricity-dependent durable medical equipment during a disaster and securely disclosed it to a local health department. We found that Medicare claims data were 93% accurate in identifying individuals using a home oxygen concentrator or ventilator. The drill findings suggest that claims data can be useful in improving preparedness and response for electricity-dependent populations.
