Engaging physicians in risk factor reduction

OptumHealth tested the feasibility of physician-directed population management in 3 primary care practices and with 546 continuously insured patients who exhibited claims markers for coronary artery disease, diabetes, and/or hypertension. During the intervention portion of the study, we asked physicians to improve the following health measurements: blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c, and smoking status. We offered a modest pay-for-outcomes incentive for each risk factor improvement achieved. Additionally, on an eligible subset of these patients, we asked physicians to actively refer to population management programs those patients they determined could benefit from nurse or health coach interventions, advising us as to which components of their treatment plan they wished us to address. The 6-month intervention period exhibited a 10-fold improvement in the trend rate of risk factor management success when compared to the prior 6-month period for the same patients. A net of 96 distinct risk factor improvements were achieved by the 546 patients during the intervention period, whereas 9 net risk factor improvements occurred in the comparison period. This difference in improvement trends was statistically significant at P < 0.01. Of the 546 study participants, a subset of 187 members was eligible for participation in OptumHealth care management programs. Physicians identified 80 of these 187 eligible members as appropriate targets for program intervention. Representing ourselves as "calling on behalf" of the physician practices, we established contact with 50 referred members; 43 members (86%) actively enrolled in our programs. This enrollment rate is 2 to 3 times the rate of enrollment through our standard program outreach methods. We conclude that physician-directed population management with aligned incentives offers promise as a method of achieving important health and wellness goals.