Recent Findings in Managed Care Described by Researchers from Rutgers University – The State University of New Jersey (Impact of a Provider Tele-mentoring Learning Model On the Care of Medicaid-enrolled Patients With Diabetes): Managed Care

2022 JUL 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting out of New Brunswick, New Jersey, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a tele-mentoring program for health care providers, has been shown to improve provider-reported outcomes, but there is insufficient research on patient-level outcomes. To evaluate the impact of primary care provider (PCP) participation in Project ECHO on the care of Medicaid enrollees with diabetes.”

Financial support for this research came from Nicholson Foundation.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Rutgers University - The State University of New Jersey, “New Jersey Medicaid claims and encounter data and difference-in-differences models were used to compare utilization and spending between Medicaid patients seen by PCPs participating in a Project ECHO program to those of matched nonparticipating PCPs. A total of 1776 adult Medicaid beneficiaries (318 with diabetes), attributed to 25 participating PCPs; and 9126 total (1454 diabetic) beneficiaries attributed to 119 nonparticipating PCPs. Utilization and spending for total inpatient, diabetes-related inpatient, emergency department, primary care, and endocrinologist services; utilization of hemoglobin A1c tests, eye exams, and diabetes prescription medications among diabetics, and total Medicaid spending. Participation in Project ECHO was associated with decreases of 44.3% in inpatient admissions (P=0.001) and 61.9% in inpatient spending (P=0.021) among treatment relative to comparison patients. Signs of most other outcome estimates were consistent with hypothesized program effects but without statistical significance. Sensitivity analyses largely confirmed these findings. We find evidence that Project ECHO participation was associated with large and statistically significant reductions of inpatient hospitalization and spending. The study was observational and limited by a small sample of participating PCPs.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This study demonstrates the feasibility and potential value of quasi-experimental evaluation of Project ECHO patient outcomes using claims data.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Impact of a Provider Tele-mentoring Learning Model On the Care of Medicaid-enrolled Patients With Diabetes. Medical Care, 2022;60(7):481-487. Medical Care can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Two Commerce Sq, 2001 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA. (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins - www.lww.com; Medical Care - http://journals.lww.com/lww-medicalcare/pages/default.aspx)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Joel C. Cantor, Rutgers University - The State University of New Jersey, Center for State Health Policy, 112 Paterson St, 5TH Floor, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States. Additional authors for this research include Sujoy Chakravarty, Jennifer Farnham, Jose Nova, Sana Ahmad and James H. Flory.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000001696. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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