  The objective of this study is to introduce methodology for studying
longitudinal claims data observed at the patient level, with inference on the
heterogeneity of healthcare utilization behaviors within large healthcare
systems such as Medicaid. The proposed approach is model-based, allowing for
visualization of longitudinal utilization behaviors using simple stochastic
graphical networks. The approach is general, providing a framework for the
study of other chronic conditions wherever longitudinal healthcare utilization
data are available. Our methods are inspired by and applied to patient-level
Medicaid claims for asthma-diagnosed children diagnosed observed over a period
of five years, with a comparison of two neighboring states, Georgia and North
Carolina.
