[Health economic evaluation of the integrated care project "OPTI-MuM"]

The objective of this study is to evaluate the economic performance of a population-based integrated care project in comparison to standard care.

The perspective adopted is that of the participating statutory health insurance companies. The well-defined target region allows the distinction of participants and non-participants. The quasi-experimental study design, which is based on routine data of the participating health insurers, is able to reduce the bias caused by the non-randomised group assignment. Based on the year of enrollment two separate cohorts were generated.

The comparison of group differences before and after a propensity score matching shows that this method provides appropriate control groups for both cohorts of participants. Taking into account 4,840 of the 5,164 participants, total savings of € 87,252 were calculated.

These findings suggest that the method of propensity score matching permits a scientifically sound performance measurement for population-based care contracts.