Healthcare provider data for Medicare reimbursements was recently made public by the federal government. This includes the address of each provider, their name, and the service rendered.
Data enthusiast I Quant NY observed some interesting trends in all this information, specifically the seemingly random fact that 25% of Medicare reimbursement for massage therapy happen within the zip code 11229 aka Brighton Beach. If you expand to the six adjacent zip codes, this number rises to nearly 50%.
[W]hile the citywide average for repeat office visits for massage therapy was 8 times, in Brighton Beach’s 11229, that number was over 17. This suggests that the higher reimbursements rates are related to both more patients and more repeat treatments.
What I Quant doesn’t note is the high concentration of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants that are known to live in the area, who are perhaps nostalgic for the banya practices of their home countries. (Photo: Nick Webb)
