Advancing Methods
Fisher ES, Baron JA, Malenka DJ, Barrett J, Bubolz TA. “Overcoming Potential Pitfalls in the Use of Medicare Data for Epidemiologic Research”. American Journal of Public Health 1990 December; 80(12):1487-1490.
Although perhaps not surprising, this article proved that Medicare data provided reliable measures of mortality and helped set the stage for using Medicare data for research.
Fisher ES, Whaley FS, Krushat WM, Malenka DJ, Fleming C, Baron JA, Hsia DC. “The Accuracy of Medicare's Hospital Claims Data: Progress, But Problems Remain”. American Journal of Public Health 1992 Feb; 8(2) 243-248.
No one really knew how accurate the coding of diagnoses and procedures were in Medicare claims (great for procedures, pretty good for diagnoses).
Lim, S. S., Carnahan, E., Nelson, E. C., Gillespie, C. W., Mokdad, A. H., Murray, C. J., Fisher ES, “Validation of a new predictive risk model: measuring the impact of the major modifiable risks of death for patients and populations.” Population Health Metrics 2015 October 1; 13(27)
The Global Burden of Disease project synthesized evidence to estimate the risk of death associated with numerous modifiable risks. We developed and validated a predictive risk index against the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The tool could be used to provide individuals with valid estimates of their avoidable risks from smoking, inadequate physical activity, poor blood pressure control and others. It could also be used to evaluate how effectively health care organizations help improve the health of the populations they serve.