The Health Care Cost Institute's State Health Policy Grant Program supported six independent research projects impacting cost and utilization, healthcare system transformation and ACA implementation, using the Institute's repository of commercial claims data for over 50 million insured Americans.

With no further adieu, here's the six projects, with links to the studies and excerpts of descriptions provided by HCCI:

1. Using Data to Lower Costs: California's Reference-Based Payment Experience and Implications for Other States
(University of California, Berkeley: Dr. Timothy Brown, Dr. James Robinson, and Dr. Christopher Whaley)
This paper estimates that if just three health insurers—Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare—adopted a reference-based payments program for colonoscopies, U.S. medical spending would decrease by approximately $95 million per year.

2. Does Independent Scope of Practice Affect Prescribing Outcomes, Healthcare Costs, and Utilization?
(University of California, San Francisco PI: Dr. Ulrike Muench)
Prices for primary care services fell by 1 to 4 percent in states that passed independent scope-of-practice laws from 2008-2012, allowing nurse practitioners to treat patients without a supervising physician. However, spending on health care increased during this time.

3. The Impact of Provider Consolidation on Outpatient Prescription Drug-Based Cancer Care Spending
(University of Chicago PI: Dr. Rena Conti)
The consolidation of outpatient practices between 2003 and 2013 drove significant increases in cancer treatment spending in large part because of the additional facility fees that hospital outpatient departments and their affiliated clinics are able to charge insurers.

4. Mental Health Parity's Limited Impact on Utilization and Access for Health Plan Beneficiaries
(University of Colorado Denver Co-PIs: Drs. Benjamin Miller and Lynn VanderWielen)
Results from this research highlight the limitations of mental health parity; specifically, parity laws may not have had their intended effect of increasing access and utilization of mental health services.

5. An Examination of Private Payer Reimbursements to Primary Care Providers for Healthcare Services Using Telehealth, United States 2009–2013
(University of Nebraska Medical Center PI: Dr. Fernando Wilson)
While telehealth claims submitted by primary care providers have increased from 1,246 claims in 2009 to 2,558 in 2013, they continue to be reimbursed at lower rates. Many states permit reimbursements for telehealth services, but only six states have passed laws that mandate reimbursement parity between telehealth and non-telehealth care.

6. Does Unrestricted Access to Physical Therapy Reduce Utilization and Health Spending?
(University of Washington PI: Dr. Bianca Frogner)
Seeing a physical therapist as the first point of care for lower back pain reduces potentially costly services later on, including emergency department visits and use of prescription opioids, according to an analysis of patient claims data in six states in the northwestern region of the U.S.