Addressing Healthcare Utilization and Costs for Older Adults with Limited Mobility Through a Multidisciplinary...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Services Research
• Pharmacoeconomics

Background:

• Home-based primary care (HBPC) is crucial for managing chronic conditions in homebound or mobility-impaired older adults.
• Integrating clinical pharmacists and community aging services enhances HBPC effectiveness.
• Evaluating such integrated programs is vital for improving elder care and reducing healthcare burdens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and assess an integrated HBPC program combining clinical pharmacists and community aging services.
• To determine the impact of this integrated HBPC model on healthcare utilization and costs.

Main Methods:

• A single-arm, pre-post analysis was conducted on an HBPC program involving older adults (50+).
• The study examined changes in healthcare visits, emergency department (ED) use, hospitalizations, and costs before and after program enrollment.
• Fisher's Exact Tests were used to analyze the significance of observed differences.

Main Results:

• The integrated HBPC program served 62 patients with 130 home visits.
• Post-enrollment, there was a trend towards reduced ED visits (12.9% vs. 21.0%) and hospitalizations (14.5% vs. 19.4%).
• Average per-member-per-month healthcare costs decreased significantly from $3053.21 pre-enrollment to $1567.96 post-enrollment.

Conclusions:

• Integrated HBPC programs involving pharmacists and community agencies can be successfully implemented in community settings.
• This model demonstrated a reduction in high-cost healthcare utilization and overall healthcare expenditures.
• The findings support the value of interdisciplinary HBPC models for improving care and managing costs for vulnerable older populations.