title: Using health-related quality of life assessments to evaluate care support within Medicaid.
abstract: CareOregon, an Oregon-based not-for-profit Medicaid health plan, successfully piloted a "CareSupport" model that identifies high-risk members and clinically stratifies them for intervention. Internal analyses indicate that CareSupport lowers utilization and cost; CareOregon, however, has lacked patient-reported outcome data on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of CareSupport participants. Between September 2005 and November 2006, we conducted a pilot study in which the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3), a generic preference-based measure of health status and HRQL, was integrated into CareOregon's existing screening algorithm for possible admission into CareSupport. We obtained baseline data on 616 CareSupport candidates and 4-month HUI3 follow-up data on 143 candidates (104 CareSupport 39 non-CareSupport). On a 0.00 (dead)-to-1.00 (perfect health) scale, the mean overall baseline HUI3 score for CareSupport patients was 0.18 (0.20 for non-CareSupport patients), comparable to baseline means reported elsewhere for much older patients immediately after suffering serious acute medical events, such as stroke or hip fracture. A 0.05 mean 4-month improvement in overall HRQL among CareSupport enrollees relative to non-CareSupport enrollees was clinically important but not statistically significant. A 0.10 improvement in HUI3 emotion was both statistically significant and clinically important. Study results provide good preliminary evidence of the value of patient-reported outcomes in clarifying individual illness burden and assessing intervention effectiveness.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, Portland, OR 97227, USA. richard.meenan@kpchr.org
authors.forename: Richard T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Meenan
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feeny
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Labby
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spofford
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mosen
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramsay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D008875:Middle Aged; D009922:Oregon; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States