METHODOLOGIES FOR INFORMING BENEFICIARIES OF THEIR RIGHTS - EVALUATING THE IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM MEDICARE

The Important Message from Medicare, a letter given to US Medicare pat ients upon hospital admission, was originally designed to allay the co ncerns of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), Peer Review Organizations (PROs), and the beneficiary community that patients did not know their rights under Medicare and the PRO program. The effecti veness of the current Message may be adversely affected by the complex ity of its language, the multifaceted admissions process, priorities o f sick patients, and the demand for hospital resources. This study eva luated the effectiveness of the Message and various alternatives for i nforming beneficiaries of their rights. With HCFA financing, PROs in 1 0 states surveyed random samples of Medicare beneficiaries to measure knowledge of their rights under the current system and after the imple mentation of alternatives. This study found that there are alternative ways of informing Medicare beneficiaries of their rights which are mo re effective than the current Important Message from Medicare. (C) 199 7 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.