Engaging individuals recently released from prison into primary care: a randomized trial

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Correctional Healthcare

Background:

• Individuals transitioning from prison face significant health challenges, including high rates of chronic conditions.
• There is a critical gap in primary care engagement among this population, leading to increased acute care utilization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of two interventions in improving primary care engagement and reducing acute care utilization among recently released prisoners.
• To evaluate a primary care-based care management program (Transitions Clinic) with community health workers against expedited primary care.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 200 recently released prisoners with chronic conditions or over 50 years old.
• Data on primary care and emergency department (ED) utilization were collected over 12 months from a safety-net health care system's electronic repository.

Main Results:

• Both intervention groups demonstrated similar rates of primary care utilization.
• Participants in the Transitions Clinic program showed significantly lower rates of emergency department utilization compared to the expedited primary care group.

Conclusions:

• Providing early access to primary care facilitates engagement for chronically ill patients recently released from prison.
• A tailored, primary care-based care management program effectively reduces emergency department utilization in this vulnerable population.