COSTS OF PILOT PROGRAMS EMPLOYING ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS WITHIN THE CENTERS FOR POPULATION HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES
Author(s)
Walton S*1;Johnson TJ2;Li CC2, Joyce B3 1University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA, 2RUSH, Chicago, IL, USA, 3University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Presentation Documents
OBJECTIVES: To measure the costs of two pilot interventions within the National Institutes of Health-funded Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD) designed to improve health outcomes in medically underserved communities through the utilization of allied health professionals. METHODS: Two local CPHHD programs with prospective randomized controlled trial designs (a virtual team care intervention aimed at reducing depressive symptoms in older adults with depression and cardio-metabolic syndrome, and a patient navigator program to increase mammography screening for breast cancer) provided the underlying data for this analysis. The programs collected detailed resource use data along with several clinical measures. Costs were measured from a payer perspective. The navigator program involved in-person or remote navigator consultations, and costs were based on a wage rate of $15 per hour. The depression program involved multiple services and all costs reflected institution-specific billing data. RESULTS: There were 949 patients in the patient navigator intervention. On average, these patients received 8.28 minutes of navigator services per patient over the phone and 1.23 minutes via in-person visits, translating to a per-patient cost of $2.38. For the six patients enrolled in the team care intervention for depression, resources used included social worker case management and individual psychotherapy, translating to program costs of $145 per patient over 12 months. Spillover healthcare service costs were similar between the intervention and control groups (intervention = $55 per patient, control = $64 per patient). CONCLUSIONS: Costs are an important consideration for evaluating pilot, team-care based interventions to improve patient health. The two programs evaluated here offer insight into the potential impact of interventions that employ allied health professionals and demonstrate a relatively low cost per patient. Future work will examine these costs in comparison with measured effects of the program.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2013-11, ISPOR Europe 2013, The Convention Centre Dublin
Value in Health, Vol. 16, No. 7 (November 2013)
Code
PCN62
Topic
Economic Evaluation
Topic Subcategory
Cost-comparison, Effectiveness, Utility, Benefit Analysis
Disease
Cardiovascular Disorders, Mental Health, Oncology, Respiratory-Related Disorders