Impacts of community-based care program on health care utilization and cost

A variety of care coordination and delivery models have been used to address the social and medical needs of high-need, high-cost patient populations. However, the evidence on the effectiveness of such models is far from clear. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the Community Health Team (CHT) program, a community-based care management program in Rhode Island, had impacts on health care utilization and cost.

We used data from 2014 to 2018 to evaluate the effects of the CHT program on health care utilization and cost. Our analytical sample consisted of a total of 12,830 patients, with 2282 in the intervention group and 10,548 in the matched comparison group.

We used a combination of propensity score-matched difference-in-differences framework and generalized linear models.

The program led to an overall decrease in hospitalizations (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.89; P = .028) and inpatient costs (IRR, 0.79; P = .024). This translates into a reduction of 7 hospitalizations per 1000 people per month and a reduction of inpatient cost of $289 per person per month. Impacts varied considerably across subgroups. For patients with 1 to 2 encounters with the program, there was a significant decrease in emergency department visits, hospitalizations, inpatient cost, outpatient cost, professional cost, and total cost. Although no significant impacts were observed for patients with 3 to 5 encounters with the program, patients with more than 6 encounters with the program saw an increase in pharmacy cost and total cost.

There is a need for a tailored approach to addressing patients' needs in primary care.