Shirley X Qian

Publications (6)15.09 Total impact

• Article: Monitoring Outcomes for the Medicare Advantage Program: Methods and Application of the VR-12 for Evaluation of Plans.

  Lewis E Kazis, Alfredo J Selim, William Rogers, Shirley X Qian, John Brazier
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  ABSTRACT: The Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12) is one of the major patient-reported outcomes for ranking the Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in the Health Outcomes Survey (HOS). Approaches for scoring physical and mental health are given using contemporary norms and regression estimators. A new metric approach for the VR-12 called the "VR-6D" is presented with case-mix adjustments for monitoring plans that combine utilities and mortality. Results show that the models for ranking health outcomes of the plans are robust and credible. Future directions include the use of utilities for evaluating and ranking of MA plans.
  The Journal of ambulatory care management 10/2012; 35(4):264-277.
• Article: A preference-based measure of health: the VR-6D derived from the veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey.

  Alfredo J Selim, William Rogers, Shirley X Qian, John Brazier, Lewis E Kazis
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  ABSTRACT: The Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12) is currently the major endpoint used in the Medicare managed care outcomes measure in the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS(®)), referred to as the Health Outcomes Survey (HOS). The purpose of this study is to adapt the Brazier SF-6D utility measure to the VR-12 to generate a single utility index. We used the HOS cohorts 2 and 3 for SF-36 data and 9 for VR-12 data. We calculated SF-6D scores from the SF-36 using the algorithms developed by Brazier and colleagues. The values of the Brazier SF-6D were used to estimate utility scores from the VR-12 using a mapping approach based on a 2-stage mapping procedure, named as VR-6D. The VR-6D derived from the VR-12 has similar distributional properties as the SF-6D. The change in VR-6D showed significant variations across disease groups with different levels of morbidity and mortality. This study produced a utility measure for the VR-12 that is comparable to the SF-6D and responsive to change. The VR-6D can be used in evaluations of health care plans and cost-effectiveness analysis to compare the health gains that health care interventions can achieve.
  Quality of Life Research 02/2011; 20(8):1337-47. · 2.30 Impact Factor
• Article: Comparison of health outcomes for male seniors in the Veterans Health Administration and Medicare Advantage plans.

  Alfredo J Selim, Dan Berlowitz, Lewis E Kazis, William Rogers, Steven M Wright, Shirley X Qian, James A Rothendler, Avron Spiro, Donald Miller, Bernardo J Selim, Benjamin G Fincke
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  ABSTRACT: To compare the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) with the Medicare Advantage (MA) plans with regard to health outcomes. The Medicare Health Outcome Survey, the 1999 Large Health Survey of Veteran Enrollees, and the Ambulatory Care Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003). A retrospective study. Men 65+ receiving care in MA (N=198,421) or in VHA (N=360,316). We compared the risk-adjusted probability of being alive with the same or better physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health at 2-years follow-up. We computed hazard ratio (HR) for 2-year mortality. Veterans had a higher adjusted probability of being alive with the same or better PCS compared with MA participants (VHA 69.2 versus MA 63.6 percent, p<.001). VHA patients had a higher adjusted probability than MA patients of being alive with the same or better MCS (76.1 versus 69.6 percent, p<.001). The HRs for mortality in the MA were higher than in the VHA (HR, 1.26 [95 percent CI 1.23-1.29]). Our findings indicate that the VHA has better patient outcomes than the private managed care plans in Medicare. The VHA's performance offers encouragement that the public sector can both finance and provide exemplary health care.
  Health Services Research 04/2010; 45(2):376-96. · 2.16 Impact Factor
• Article: Change in health status and mortality as indicators of outcomes: comparison between the Medicare Advantage Program and the Veterans Health Administration.

  Alfredo J Selim, Lewis E Kazis, William Rogers, Shirley X Qian, James A Rothendler, Avron Spiro, Xinhua S Ren, Donald Miller, Bernardo J Selim, Benjamin G Fincke
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  ABSTRACT: Comparing health outcomes with adequate methodology is central to performance assessments of health care systems. We compared the Medicare Advantage Program (MAP) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) with regard to changes in health status and mortality. We used the Death-Master-File for vital status and the Short-Form 36 to determine physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health at baseline and at 2 years. We compared the probability of being alive with the same or better (than would be expected by chance) PCS (or MCS) at 2 years and mortality, while adjusting for case-mix. Given the geographic variations in MAP enrollment, we did a regional sub-analysis. There were no significant differences in the probability of being alive with the same or better PCS except for the South (VHA 65.8% vs. MAP 62.5%, P = .0014). VHA patients had a slightly higher probability than MAP patients of being alive with the same or better MCS (71.8% vs. 70.1%, P = .002) but no significant regional variations. The hazard ratios for mortality in the MAP were higher than in the VHA across all regions. With the use of appropriate methodology, we found small differences in 2-year health outcomes that favor the VHA.
  Quality of Life Research 10/2007; 16(7):1179-91. · 2.30 Impact Factor
• Article: Comprehensive health status assessment of centenarians: results from the 1999 large health survey of veteran enrollees.

  Alfredo J Selim, Graeme Fincke, Dan R Berlowitz, Donald R Miller, Shirley X Qian, Austin Lee, Zhongxiao Cong, William Rogers, Bernardo J Selim, Xinhua S Ren, Avron Spiro, Lewis E Kazis
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  ABSTRACT: Information on the health status of centenarians provides a means for understanding the health care needs of this growing population. Therefore, we examined the health status of a national cohort of centenarian veteran enrollees. Ninety-three centenarian veteran enrollees returned a complete health history questionnaire, which included questions about sociodemographic information, age-associated conditions, health behaviors, health-related quality of life as measured by the Veterans SF-36, and change in health status. Centenarian veteran enrollees are a group with major impairment across multiple dimensions of health-related quality of life despite having a relatively low prevalence of diseases. They had considerable physical limitations as reflected by their physical health summary scores (26.2 +/- 8.3). However, their mental health was comparatively good (mental health summary score 44.1 +/- 12.5). Compared to younger elderly veterans (ages 85-99), centenarians had a lower prevalence of hypertension, angina or myocardial infarction, diabetes, and chronic low back pain (p <.05). Centenarians had significantly worse physical functioning, role physical, vitality, and social functioning scores than did younger elderly veterans. The two groups did not differ in their general health, bodily pain, role emotional, and mental health scores. Centenarians did not perceive much decline in their physical or mental health during the preceding year. Centenarian veteran enrollees are a group with a low number of age-associated diseases and good mental health despite substantial physical limitations. These results support future studies of services directed toward improvement of function as opposed to those focused solely on the treatment of diseases.
  The Journals of Gerontology Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 04/2005; 60(4):515-9. · 4.60 Impact Factor
• Article: The health status of elderly veteran enrollees in the Veterans Health Administration.

  Alfredo J Selim, Dan R Berlowitz, Graeme Fincke, Zhongxiao Cong, William Rogers, Samuel C Haffer, Xinhua S Ren, Austin Lee, Shirley X Qian, Donald R Miller, Avron Spiro, Bernardo J Selim, Lewis E Kazis
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  ABSTRACT: To examine the health status of elderly veteran enrollees, stratified by age group, and compare with nonveteran populations. Cross-sectional study. Outpatient. A total of 1,406,049 veteran enrollees were surveyed, and 887,775 returned the questionnaire (63.1%). Of these, 663,729 (74%) were aged 65 and older. Patient demographics, comorbid conditions, and health status, which was assessed using the Veterans 36-item short form (SF-36), a reliable and valid measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Elderly veteran enrollees are a group with poor health status across all scales of the Veterans SF-36. Significant decline in HRQoL was found in patients grouped by increasing age (65-74, 75-84, and > or =85). Of the Veterans SF-36 scales, the role physical and role emotional scales and physical functioning presented the largest decrements by age group. The elderly veteran enrollees had poorer health status than older people enrolled in Medicare managed care, ranging from 0.5 to 1 standard deviations worse. Elderly veteran enrollees have substantial disease burden, as reflected by major impairments across multiple dimensions of HRQoL. These findings bear important implications for use of services, suggesting that the Veterans Health Administration will require considerable resources to provide care for its aging population.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 09/2004; 52(8):1271-6. · 3.74 Impact Factor