Health Care Utilization of US Medicare Beneficiaries Living with Parkinson’s Disease

The number of people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) is expected to rise in the coming years. This study analyzed health care utilization patterns of Medicare beneficiaries with a PD diagnosis (ICD-10 code G20) who were enrolled in 2019. Utilization analysis included PD-related specialists and primary care physicians, therapy services, and mental health services. We found 685,116 (1.2%) Medicare beneficiaries had PD (56.3% male, 77.9% over age 70, 85.3% White, and 16.0% rural residents). Few Medicare beneficiaries with PD sought care from a movement disorder specialist (MDS) (9.1%); another 50.9% visited a general neurologist. Results reveal low utilization rates for therapy and even lower rates for mental health services. Overall healthcare utilization varied significantly by demographic group with women, people of color, and rural residents being less likely to access specialist care. Our findings emphasize the need for further research on population-specific barriers to accessing PD-related health care. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This research was supported by the Parkinson’s Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: NORC Institutional Review Board (IRB00000967, Federalwide Assurance FWA00000142) waived ethical approval for this work I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Data supporting this study are not publicly available. Due to CMS policy, the authors are unable to provide the data used in this study. Data can be requested through ResDAC’s CMS Data Request Center.