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Medicare Drug Program News
Many Older Adults Cannot Find Most Beneficial
Prescription Drug Plan on Medicare Website
Well-educated adults with computer experience had
difficulty using the Medicare.gov Website in Florida study
Aug. 20, 2008 - About three-fourths of older adults
with basic computer skills could not find the most beneficial
prescription drug plan on the Medicare Web site, and could not take the
necessary steps to enroll to receive home health care services,
according to a study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
The study - conducted by Sara Czaja, co-director of
the
Center on Aging at the University of Miami Medical School, and
colleagues - included 112 adults ages 50 and older from Broward and
Miami-Dade counties in Florida, each of whom had at least 14 years of
education and basic computer skills.
Study participants received brief training on the
Medicare Web site before researchers asked them to find the most
beneficial prescription drug plan among various plans listed on the
site. Researchers analyzed the computer activity logs of participants
and found that they often could not understand the technical language or
navigate the pages of the Web site.
In addition, some participants did not search the
Web site adequately to find the information that they needed to select a
prescription drug plan, the study found. Some participants ended their
searches before they visited the 10 or more pages needed to find the
information, according to the study.
Czaja said, "There are some problems ... some
design features with the site that make it difficult for people to use,
and they can't get the maximum value out of it," adding, "Some of them
just gave up trying."
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The Researchers Say:
● A sample of relatively well-educated
adults with computer experience had difficulty using the
Medicare.gov Website to determine eligibility for services and
enroll in a drug plan.
● Participants also reported problems
navigating within the Web site and locating information.
Although the sample was relatively small and restricted to
people aged 50 years or more, it was diverse and larger than
samples included in most usability studies.
● It is likely that persons with less
computer experience would have even greater difficulty.
● To ensure that electronic health
tools reach their full potential, broad and inclusive input from
consumers should serve as the basis for design. |
In a response to the study, Jeff Nelligan, a
CMS spokesperson, said that the Web site receives more than one
million visitors daily and that the agency conducted focus groups before
the launch of the site in 2005.
Nelligan said, "We've worked hard to organize and
format our quality 'compare' tools ... in a consumer-friendly manner by
conducting both qualitative and quantitative research of the Web site
tools with multiple audiences," adding, "More research is probably
needed to assess the usability of the site, and should be performed by
people who have a basic understanding of the size and complexity of the
program" (LaMendola, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8/20).
● An extract of the study is available
online.
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