Who benefits from multidisciplinary care in functional somatic disorders? Identifying cost-effective patient...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Economics
• Clinical Medicine
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Functional Somatic Disorders (FSD) impose significant burdens on patient well-being and healthcare systems.
• Optimizing resource allocation requires identifying FSD patient subgroups that benefit most from multidisciplinary care in terms of cost reduction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of multidisciplinary care on healthcare utilization and costs in patients with Functional Somatic Disorders.
• To determine if baseline diagnostic classification predicts cost-effectiveness in FSD patients undergoing integrated treatment.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of healthcare costs and utilization for 685 FSD patients before and after initiating multidisciplinary care.
• Patients were categorized into Diagnostic Classification Groups (DCG) based on baseline characteristics.
• Multivariable analysis assessed the influence of DCG on changes in healthcare costs and utilization.

Main Results:

• Approximately 56% of patients experienced reduced healthcare utilization and costs, with mean annual savings of 1,367 ILS.
• Significant cost reductions were noted in hospitalizations and diagnostic procedures.
• Patients with simple FSD and stress-exacerbated diseases showed significant cost reductions, unlike those with organic or difficult FSD.

Conclusions:

• Multidisciplinary treatment effectively reduced healthcare utilization and costs for FSD patients, with outcomes dependent on diagnostic classification.
• Baseline diagnostic classification is a reliable predictor of cost-effectiveness, emphasizing the economic value of collaborative care for specific FSD types.
• Findings support the use of diagnostic patterns for selecting patients for multidisciplinary programs and developing targeted interventions.