The use of telephonic case management to link a special-needs population with a primary care physician.
BACKGROUND
Gold Choice, a Medicaid managed care organization for individuals with mental health and/or substance abuse diagnoses, uses telephonic case management to link members with primary care providers (PCPs). This study assessed the effectiveness of this approach.


METHODS
The number of new members without a PCP at baseline were compared with primary care encounter data documenting first PCP visits from 2003 to 2006. Paired t tests compared the mean number of new Gold Choice members linked to primary care who received telephonic case management.


RESULTS
During the 4 years, 52% of new members without a PCP at baseline were linked to a provider within 12 months. Paired sample t tests comparing the mean number of members linked to a PCP from baseline to 12 months for each of the 4 years yielded statistically significant results.


CONCLUSIONS
More than 50% of members who indicated at baseline that they had not seen a PCP were linked to primary care during the first 12 months of their enrollment in Gold Choice, suggesting that that telephonic case management may be an effective approach to linking mentally ill and/or chemically dependent patients to primary care.
Kahn
Linda S
LS
Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA. lskahn@buffalo.edu
Aiello
Jennifer
J
Berdine
Diane E
DE
Fox
Chester H
CH
D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid / Q000458:organization & administration; D010821:Physicians, Family; D015397:Program Evaluation; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States