Infertility case management: improving both short-term and long-term outcomes while reducing costs

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Health Informatics
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Infertility affects women desiring children at older ages, leading to a costly $3 billion industry.
• Current infertility treatments face challenges like overutilization, drug wastage, and adverse outcomes, including high-order multiple gestations.
• High-order multiple gestations result in preterm births, chronic adult diseases, and lifelong neurological impairments, incurring substantial neonatal intensive care unit costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the benefits of integrating information technology with clinical case management in infertility treatment.
• To reduce overall costs associated with infertility care.
• To improve provider accuracy and patient outcomes in infertility management.

Main Methods:

• Office-based telephonic nurse case management.
• Pharmacology management practice.
• Integration of information technology with clinical case management.

Main Results:

• The integration of information technology and clinical case management is highly effective.
• Provider accuracy is improved, facilitating optimal real-time information transfer.
• Infertility treatment costs were lowered by 30% to 40% through case management.

Conclusions:

• Case management accounts for 81% of cost reduction, not physician fees or pharmaceutical costs.
• Case management improves conception effectiveness and quality, reducing high-order multiple gestations.
• Expanding infertility benefits with case management offers significant savings for payers and employers, benefiting women and families.