Dobson | DaVanzo (D|D) is delighted to announce a transformative partnership with Eastern Research Group Inc. (ERG) as one of their subcontractors on ERG’s recently awarded contract with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) Office of Science and Data Policy (SDP) to address challenges within the healthcare landscape. 

Together, ERG, D|D, and other subcontractors will have the opportunity to provide analytical and technical support to ASPE’s Office of SDP on a wide array of critical subject areas, ranging from public health and emergency preparedness to medical product development, the opioid epidemic, and economic/regulatory impact analyses. Through this partnership, D|D looks forward to leveraging our collective expertise to support ASPE. 

Dobson | DaVanzo (D|D) proudly announces its partnership with the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN) to explore the potential positive financial implications linked to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) employing AAPACN-certified individuals. 

D|D's analytical approach distinguishes itself by adopting a comprehensive healthcare finance perspective to examine facility revenues, costs, margins, and case volume over a multi-year period. Our approach aims to provide nuanced insights into the financial landscape, demonstrating the firm's commitment to delivering valuable recommendations. Drawing from our extensive experience with Medicare SNF claims, Medicare Cost Report data, and prior healthcare finance analyses, D|D looks forward to contributing to the body of research on post-acute care nursing. 

Dobson | DaVanzo is pleased to announce a recently published study in Journal of Medical Economics, entitled, "Chronic wound prevalence and the associated cost of treatment in Medicare beneficiaries: changes between 2014 and 2019". The full publication can be found here.

Chronic wounds represent a burden to society that is large, impacting the quality of life of nearly 2.5% of the total population in the United States. Given the increasing age of the population, the continued threat of diabetes and obesity worldwide, and the persistent problem of infection, it is expected that chronic wounds will continue to be a substantial clinical, social, and economic challenge.

Dobson | DaVanzo has conducted a retrospective analysis of Medicare claims data to determine the cost of wound care and prevalence of chronic wounds for Medicare beneficiaries in the aggregate, by wound type, and by setting between the years 2014 and 2019. This analysis is an extension of a previous study conducted prior to 2014. 

In this study, it was found that over the 5-year period, wound prevalence amongst Medicare beneficiaries increased from 13% to 16.4%, with great increases in the number of arterial ulcers, skin disorders, and traumatic wounds. Furthermore, a decrease in chronic wound-related costs with a shift in chronic wound care expenditures from the hospital-based outpatient department to the physician’s office was observed. 

CMS's Office of Minority Health (OMH) recently released several infographics highlighting Z Codes and the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). Z Codes are a subset of ICD-10-CM codes that relate to factors affecting a patient's health that are not already classified as a disease or injury, with codes Z55-Z65 used to report SDOH data such as housing status, food and economic insecurity, and transportation access. The infographics include best practices for utilizing Z Codes to capture SDOH information and provide multiple examples of how SDOH data can improve equity in health care outcomes and research. OMH also included a list of the 17 new Z Codes added in April and October of this year. These infographics are the latest effort by CMS to combat health disparities by helping promote health equity.

Dobson | DaVanzo has a proven history of utilizing SDOH data to help advocate for policies that improve equitable health access and outcomes, as demonstrated by our recent article in Health Affairs, co-authored with the Federation of American Hospitals, titled: "CMS Hospital Value-Based Programs: Refinements Are Needed to Reduce Health Disparities and Improve Outcomes." In a separate project, Dobson | DaVanzo was tasked with highlighting SDOH and health outcome disparities for the Appalachia region. To do this, our team constructed a socioeconomic and health outcomes index - the Community Determinant Index - at the county level for the United States, then utilized our 100% Medicare claims data file to calculate a CDI score for each hospital based on the beneficiaries treated. Our work helped highlight that some Appalachian providers are treating those with higher need and likely need increased payments to better support and address the health of their population.

Dobson | DaVanzo is pleased to announce that we will be continuing our work with SDOH data. We have been tasked with assessing the extent to which patients receiving care at providers participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program differ across key SDOH metrics compared to patients at non-340B providers. The 340B Drug Pricing Program allows healthcare entities such as critical access hospitals, disproportionate share hospitals, and sole community hospitals, among others, to purchase outpatient medications at discounted rates, enabling the providers to use the savings for providing services to underserved populations. By linking claims data with SDOH data, we hope to enhance the understanding of potential vulnerabilities and inequities facing patients receiving care at 340B providers. Dobson | DaVanzo is grateful for the opportunity to work with SDOH data, and we hope that our contribution will help further the cause of improved health equity.

We are pleased to announce that Dobson | DaVanzo was recently awarded the Part D Formulary and Benefits Assessments contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

A key aim of this work is to determine whether the Part D formulary and benefit offerings are being administered as approved by Title I of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). The addition of this drug benefit to Medicare represents a landmark change to the Medicare program that significantly improved the health care coverage available to millions of Medicare beneficiaries.

Dobson | DaVanzo, together with our subcontractor, Acumen, LLC, look forward to supporting CMS in this important work through monitoring and performing oversight analyses for the Medicare Part D program.

We are pleased to announce that Dobson | DaVanzo was recently awarded the Monitoring and Data Validation of Part C and Part D Reporting Requirements contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

A key aim of this work is to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to information regarding their health and drug plans, as well as to ensure that beneficiaries are provided with high quality care that is safe, effective, and timely. The Part C and Part D Reporting Requirements are one important data source used by CMS for the oversight of the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit programs.

Dobson | DaVanzo, together with our subcontractor, Acumen, LLC, look forward to supporting CMS in this important work through monitoring and measuring compliance of Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) and Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs) with federal regulations.

Richa Zirath joined Dobson | DaVanzo in July as a Research Analyst. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration with concentrations in financial analysis and data analytics from the University at Buffalo, as well as an MPP with a concentration in health policy from George Washington University.

Richa has had previous experience in the non-profit government sector and health care consulting field. As a Health Policy Research Fellow at the Milken Institute of Public Health, Richa focused on state Medicaid coverage of registered dietitian nutritionists and medical nutrition therapy for adults and children.

Sandra Agik, one of Dobson | DaVanzo's senior managers, recently attended the 2023 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) as a panelist on a career panel titled: "Working in Contract Research: Career options supporting policymakers with actionable and impactful research." Each year, the Annual Research Meeting (ARM) convenes a diverse group of health services research and health policy professionals to showcase new research, innovative methods, and engage in discussions about the impact of health services research on health policy and practice.

While at the ARM, Sandra attended several sessions related to health equity and the use of AI/Machine Learning in health services research. By attending these sessions, Dobson | DaVanzo is able to keep up with the latest insights on health equity and explore new ideas on how best to leverage our existing AI/Machine Learning capabilities. Additionally, we were excited to connect with current thought leaders in the field and look forward to strengthening our existing partnerships.

Dobson | DaVanzo is pleased to announce that we recently co-authored a publication in Health Affairs with the Federation of American Hospitals titled: "CMS Hospital Value-Based Programs: Refinements Are Needed to Reduce Health Disparities and Improve Outcomes." In this research article, we assessed how both patient and community-level health equity risk factors affected hospital penalties under several CMS value-based programs. We found a statistically significant positive relationship between hospital penalties and medical complexity, uncompensated care, and the proportion of catchment area populations living alone - all factors not under hospitals' control. 

CMS has focused on value-based programs in an attempt to link provider payments to the quality of care provided. Our research indicates that adjustments may be required to existing value-based programs to account for community level health equity factors. Dobson | DaVanzo is glad to contribute to the ongoing discussions regarding value-based programs and we hope that our contribution will result in improved and more effective payments for providers. The full study can be found here.

Dobson | DaVanzo is pleased to announce that we have crossed another milestone in the history of our company. May of 2023 marks 15 years since our corporate inception, and we would like to take this occasion to thank each and every one of our clients, colleagues, and companions for being an enthusiastic part of Dobson | DaVanzo, LLC, meeting its founders' vision of a firm that would use claims data and econometrics to improve public policy.

What began as a small firm with just three members housed in a kitchen has risen up to stand tall amongst leading businesses in the field. Our company has earned countless achievements and accomplishments, and our work ethic mixed with a small business family culture has proven to be exceptionally inclusive and productive.

Throughout the years, we have provided testimony to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), as well as members of Congress, State legislatures, and numerous stakeholder groups. Our company has provided litigation support at the highest levels to aid courts, plaintiffs, and defendants in understanding the economic value of various health care issues. Our team is at the forefront of using administrative data sets to explore payment bundling and other CMS initiatives. We have applied decades of experience, access to a broad range of policymakers and subject matter experts, and innovative research techniques in order to best meet our clients’ needs. Our analyses are rigorous, objective, and make use of a variety of public and private-sector data sources. 

We are grateful to our clients who have trusted us and will continue to trust us to help them tackle difficult policy questions and challenges. Their feedback has pushed us to grow, improve, and become preeminent in our field. Our success story remains incomplete without the support of our clients and customers.

If it were not for the support and dedication of our team, our accomplishments would have never been possible. Every team member plays a very important role in the development of our company. Their enthusiasm, support, and dedication have brought us to this height.

We plan to keep our business and relations growing; we will continue to provide our clients with nothing less than the best, and with their support, we wish to explore new heights in the coming years.

Summer Arnold joined Dobson | Davanzo in March as a Research Analyst. She holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Music from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, as well as an MPH with a concentration in health policy, administration, and management from New Mexico State University. Summer has also taken graduate-level coursework in Experimental Psychology.

Summer has experience in numerous sectors of public health including clinical research, healthcare administration, non-profit community work, and project management. She interned with the New Mexico Department of Health, working on a statewide vaccine equity grant. Summer has several years of experience in research design and methodology as well as unique experience with public health issues in the US-Mexico border region. 

We are pleased to announce that Dobson | DaVanzo was recently awarded a contract to evaluate the baseline and first performance year results of the Episode Quality Improvement Program (EQIP)—an episode-based payment program for non-hospital providers designed to help the State of Maryland meet the financial targets of Total Cost of Care (TCOC) model.

Under this project, we will support Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients, Inc. (CRISP) in evaluating the impact of EQIP on healthcare spending and outcomes in Maryland using Medicare FFS Claims data. Our team will also compare program results, key elements and strategies under EQIP to those of other successful bundled payment and value-based care models to identify opportunities for improvement.

Dobson | DaVanzo looks forward to supporting CRISP in this important work through qualitative and quantitative analyses that will be published in a final report.

Want to learn more about our claims data expertise or collaborate on a project? Get in touch with us.

Dobson | DaVanzo welcomed Collin McGuire as a Research Analyst in December. Collin has earned a Master of Health Science degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Global Health and Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Arizona State University. Mr. McGuire brings considerable experience to the firm as he has worked with infectious disease research and education, especially human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Mr. McGuire worked as an HIV and AIDS educator for HEAL International, in Tempe Arizona and on the ground in Arusha, Tanzania. Mr. McGuire is proficient in the use of STATA and R for quantitative analysis and used qualitative analysis extensively during his time as a student and in HIV AIDS prevention. His manuscript, “Characterizing the impact of the Key Populations Investment Fund (KPIF) on HIV prevention and treatment programs for key populations in Malawi”, was presented at the International AIDS Conference 2022.

Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC is pleased to announce that the Interim Report to Congress (RTC), an evaluation of the Medicare Patient Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) Demonstration prepared by Dobson | DaVanzo, has been published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The report can be found here.

The Medicare IVIG Access Act of 2012 mandated the implementation of the IVIG Demonstration in 2014. Under the Demonstration, Medicare provides a bundled payment for the services and items involved with in-home IVIG therapy for the treatment of beneficiaries with primary immune deficiency disorders (PIDD). The Demonstration was extended by Congress in 2017 under the Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act, and again in 2020 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

Analyses found that access to in-home IVIG therapy improved under the Demonstration, evidenced by: 1) beneficiaries’ receipt on average of two additional IVIG therapies each year, 2) reduced likelihood of missing or postponing IVIG therapies, and 3) a reduction in infection-related services due to a more regular and predictable IVIG therapy regimen. Consequently, Medicare expenditures increased by $8,082 per beneficiary per year due to the increased use of IVIG, despite Demonstration beneficiaries experiencing fewer infections and reduced expenditures for hospital outpatient and physician services. Overall, CMS paid over $20M for items and services involved with the in-home administration of IVIG under the Demonstration for the 2,682 beneficiaries who utilized the Demonstration benefit at least once as of December 28, 2020

Dr. Al Dobson, President of Dobson DaVanzo and Associates, LLC, was invited to speak at the recent Institute on Rehabilitation Payment Models: Innovation, and Research and Policy, hosted by the Center on Health Services Training and Research (CoHSTAR) and the Learning Health Systems Rehabilitation Research Network (LeaRRn).

The two-day institute was held virtually on June 21 and 23, 2022. Distinguished speakers discussed a variety of topics including: continued provider adjustment to two significant payment system changes (the Skilled Nursing Facility Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) and the Home Health Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM)), Quality Measure Development and Reporting, Health Equity, Alternative Payment Models, and an uncertain future given continued COVID-19-driven volatility, and a forthcoming Unified Post-Acute Care (UPAC) Prospective Payment System.

Leading the Opening Session for Day 2 of the Institute, Dr. Dobson provided a brief history of Post-Acute Care (PAC), synthesized key themes and lessons learned from Day 1 of the conference, and highlighted key issues within the PAC landscape including the role of therapy provision and the challenges of developing and operating within a UPAC Prospective Payment System.