Case Management of the Elderly in a Health Maintenance Organization: The Implications for Program Administration Under Managed Care:

Building High-Performing Primary Care Systems: After a Decade of Policy Change, Is Canada "Walking the Talk?"

Policy Points Considerable investments have been made to build high-performing primary care systems in Canada. However, little is known about the extent to which change has occurred over the last decade with implementing programs and policies across all 13 provincial and territorial jurisdictions. There is significant variation in the degree of implementation of structural features of high-performing primary care systems across Canada. This study provides evidence on the state of primary care reform in Canada and offers insights into the opportunities based on changes that governments elsewhere have made to advance primary care transformation.

CONTEXT

Despite significant investments to transform primary care, Canada lags behind its peers in providing timely access to regular doctors or places of care, timely access to care, developing interprofessional teams, and communication across health care settings. This study examines changes over the last decade (2012 to 2021) in policies across 13 provincial and territorial jurisdictions that address the structural features of high-performing primary care systems.

METHODS

A multiple comparative case study approach was used to explore changes in primary care delivery across 13 Canadian jurisdictions. Each case consisted of (1) qualitative interviews with academics, provincial health care leaders, and health care professionals and (2) a literature review of policies and innovations. Data for each case were thematically analyzed within and across cases, using 12 structural features of high-performing primary care systems to describe each case and assess changes over time.

FINDINGS

The most significant changes include adopting electronic medical records, investments in quality improvement training and support, and developing interprofessional teams. Progress was more limited in implementing primary care governance mechanisms, system coordination, patient enrollment, and payment models. The rate of change was slowest for patient engagement, leadership development, performance measurement, research capacity, and systematic evaluation of innovation.

CONCLUSIONS

Progress toward building high-performing primary care systems in Canada has been slow and variable, with limited change in the organization and delivery of primary care. Canada's experience can inform innovation internationally by demonstrating how preexisting policy legacies constrain the possibilities for widespread primary care reform, with progress less pronounced in the attributes that impact physician autonomy. To accelerate primary care transformation in Canada and abroad, a national strategy and performance measurement framework is needed based on meaningful engagement of patients and other stakeholders. This must be accompanied by targeted funding investments and building strong data infrastructure for performance measurement to support rigorous research.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Case Management Project for the Community-Dwelling Frail Elderly in Hong Kong

This randomized, controlled trial evaluates the cost-benefit of a case management project for older persons in HongKong. Case managers provided integrated care to participants in an intervention group while participants in a control group received conventional care only. Minimum Data Set–Home Care was used to assess health conditions, and hospital admissions were used as the basis to calculate health care costs. After the intervention, hospital admissions were reduced by 36.8% in the intervention group (p = .01) and 20.4% in the control group. The total number of acute hospital bed-days decreased by 53.1% in the intervention group (p < .05), compared to 4.4% in the control group. Compared with the control group, U.S.$170,448 was saved in acute hospital care and community health services in the intervention group. Well-planned case management interventions reduced hospital admissions and the length of stay in hospitals with corresponding savings in total health care costs.

Evaluation of a high-risk case management pilot program for Medicare beneficiaries with Medigap coverage

The objective was to evaluate the 3-year experience of a high-risk case management (HRCM) pilot program for adults with an AARP Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Insurance Plan. Participants were provided in-person visits as well as telephonic and mailed services to improve care coordination from December 1, 2008, to December 31, 2011. Included were adults who had an AARP Medigap Insurance Plan, resided in 1 of 5 pilot states, and had a Hierarchical Condition Category score>3.74, or were referred into the program. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for case-mix differences among 2015 participants and 7626 qualified but nonparticipating individuals. Participants were in the program an average of 15.4 months. After weighting, multiple regression analyses were used to estimate differences in quality of care and health care expenditures between participants and nonparticipants. Increased duration in the program was associated with fewer hospital readmissions. Additionally, participants were significantly more likely to have recurring office visits and recommended laboratory tests. The program demonstrated $7.7 million in savings over the 3 years, resulting in a return on investment of $1.40 saved for every dollar spent on the program. Savings increased each year from 2009 to 2011 and with longer length of engagement. The majority of savings were realized by the federal Medicare program. This study focused on quality of care and savings for an HRCM program designed solely for Medicare members with Medicare Supplement coverage. This program had a favorable impact on quality of care and demonstrated savings over a 3-year period.

Effects of a home visiting nurse intervention versus care as usual on individual activities of daily living: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Home visiting nurses (HVNs) have long been part of home and community-based care interventions designed to meet the needs of functionally declining older adults. However, only one of the studies including HVNs that have demonstrated successful impacts on Activities of Daily Living (ADL) has reported how those interventions affected individual ADLs such as bathing, instead reporting the effect on means of various ADL indices and scales. Reporting impacts on means is insufficient since the same mean can consist of many different combinations of individual ADL impairments. The purpose of our study was to identify which individual ADLs were affected by a specific HVN intervention.

METHODS

This is a secondary analysis comparing two arms of a randomized controlled study that enrolled Medicare patients (mean age = 76.8 years; 70% female) with considerable ADL impairment. At baseline difficulty with individual ADLs ranged from a low of 16.0% with eating to a high of 78.0% with walking. Through monthly home visits, the HVN focused on empowering patients and using behavior change approaches to facilitate chronic disease self-management. Three categories of analyses were used to compare difficulty with and dependence in 6 individual ADLs between the HVN (n = 237) and care as usual (n = 262) groups (total N = 499) at 22 months after study entry: (1) unadjusted analyses that strictly depend on random assignment, (2) multinomial logistic regression analyses adjusting for baseline risk factors, and (3) multinomial regression analyses that include variables reporting post-randomization healthcare use as well as the baseline risk factors.

RESULTS

Compared to care as usual, patients receiving the HVN intervention had less difficulty performing bathing at 22 months. However, there were no effects for difficulty performing the other 5 ADLs. While no effects were found for lower levels of dependence for any ADLs, impacts were detected for the most dependent levels of 4 ADLs: patients experienced less dependence in walking and transferring, a substitution effect for toileting, and more dependence in eating.

CONCLUSIONS

Future research is needed to confirm these findings and determine how HVN interventions affect individual ADLs of older adults with multiple ADLs.

Case managed community aged care: what is the evidence for effects on service use and costs?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effects of case management in community aged care (CMCAC) interventions on service use and costs.

METHOD

Five databases were searched from inception to 2011 July to include randomized control trials and comparative observational English studies. Results were summarized by using the best-evidence synthesis approach.

RESULTS

Twenty-one studies were included. Available studies supported improvements in clients' use of case management services (all of the four studies), some community services (8 of the 10) and nursing home admission and stay (around one half), delay of nursing home placement (all of the two studies), and achieving cost neutrality (8 of the 11). The effects on medical care utilization were varying.

DISCUSSION

In general, these positive effects justify the further development and refinement of CMCAC programs. Result applicability is limited by only including English studies. Cost studies applying a societal perspective, and full economic appraisals where appropriate are warranted.

The effectiveness of inter-professional working for older people living in the community: a systematic review

Health and social care policy in the UK advocates inter-professional working (IPW) to support older people with complex and multiple needs. Whilst there is a growing understanding of what supports IPW, there is a lack of evidence linking IPW to explicit outcomes for older people living in the community. This review aimed to identify the models of IPW that provide the strongest evidence base for practice with community dwelling older people. We searched electronic databases from 1 January 1990-31 March 2008. In December 2010 we updated the findings from relevant systematic reviews identified since 2008. We selected papers describing interventions that involved IPW for community dwelling older people and randomised controlled trials (RCT) reporting user-relevant outcomes. Included studies were classified by IPW models (Case Management, Collaboration and Integrated Team) and assessed for risk of bias. We conducted a narrative synthesis of the evidence according to the type of care (interventions delivering acute, chronic, palliative and preventive care) identified within each model of IPW. We retrieved 3211 records and included 37 RCTs which were mapped onto the IPW models: Overall, there is weak evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for IPW, although well-integrated and shared care models improved processes of care and have the potential to reduce hospital or nursing/care home use. Study quality varied considerably and high quality evaluations as well as observational studies are needed to identify the key components of effective IPW in relation to user-defined outcomes. Differences in local contexts raise questions about the applicability of the findings and their implications for practice. We need more information on the outcomes of the process of IPW and evaluations of the effectiveness of different configurations of health and social care professionals for the care of community dwelling older people.

An investigation into which individual instrumental activities of daily living are affected by a home visiting nurse intervention

BACKGROUND

to our knowledge no research has investigated the effect of home visiting nurse (HVN) interventions on individual instrumental activities of daily living (IADL).

OBJECTIVE

to investigate the effects of an HVN intervention on the difficulty or dependence in six individual IADLs.

DESIGN

a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled study comparing an HVN intervention (n = 237) with usual care (n = 262) at 22 months after study entry.

SETTING

home care linked to primary care.

SUBJECTS

a total of 499 Medicare patients needing or receiving help with at least three IADLs or two ADLs, who had recent significant health-care use.

METHODS

the intervention consisted of monthly home visits by trained nursing staff. Unadjusted and adjusted (binary and multinomial logistic regression) analyses were performed.

RESULTS

unadjusted analyses found less difficulty or dependence for the HVN group for meal preparation, telephone use, shopping and ordinary housework, and more difficulty or dependence for medication management. After adjustment, in addition to an effect through health-care services use, the HVN group had less difficulty or dependence for meal preparation and shopping and more difficulty or dependence for medication management.

CONCLUSIONS

an HVN intervention had mixed results for individual IADLs. The negative effect on medication management questions the validity of a total IADL score as an outcome measure, and implies that other medication management measures should be considered for outcome evaluation. Future research is needed to confirm and better understand these findings.

Effects of case management in community aged care on client and carer outcomes: a systematic review of randomized trials and comparative observational studies

BACKGROUND

Case management has been applied in community aged care to meet frail older people's holistic needs and promote cost-effectiveness. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effects of case management in community aged care on client and carer outcomes.

METHODS

We searched Web of Science, Scopus, Medline, CINAHL (EBSCO) and PsycINFO (CSA) from inception to 2011 July. Inclusion criteria were: no restriction on date, English language, community-dwelling older people and/or carers, case management in community aged care, published in refereed journals, randomized control trials (RCTs) or comparative observational studies, examining client or carer outcomes. Quality of studies was assessed by using such indicators as quality control, randomization, comparability, follow-up rate, dropout, blinding assessors, and intention-to-treat analysis. Two reviewers independently screened potentially relevant studies, extracted information and assessed study quality. A narrative summary of findings were presented.

RESULTS

Ten RCTs and five comparative observational studies were identified. One RCT was rated high quality. Client outcomes included mortality (7 studies), physical or cognitive functioning (6 studies), medical conditions (2 studies), behavioral problems (2 studies) , unmet service needs (3 studies), psychological health or well-being (7 studies) , and satisfaction with care (4 studies), while carer outcomes included stress or burden (6 studies), satisfaction with care (2 studies), psychological health or well-being (5 studies), and social consequences (such as social support and relationships with clients) (2 studies). Five of the seven studies reported that case management in community aged care interventions significantly improved psychological health or well-being in the intervention group, while all the three studies consistently reported fewer unmet service needs among the intervention participants. In contrast, available studies reported mixed results regarding client physical or cognitive functioning and carer stress or burden. There was also limited evidence indicating significant effects of the interventions on the other client and carer outcomes as described above.

CONCLUSIONS

Available evidence showed that case management in community aged care can improve client psychological health or well-being and unmet service needs. Future studies should investigate what specific components of case management are crucial in improving clients and their carers' outcomes.

Body Mass Index and the Impact of a Health Promotion Intervention on Health Services Use and Expenditures

Objective: To examine the effect of body mass index (BMI) on the impact of a health promotion intervention on health services use and expenditures among Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities. Method: We analyzed data from 452 Medicare beneficiaries who participated in a Medicare demonstration. The intervention included the following components: patient education, health promotion coaching, medication management, and physician care management. We performed the analysis by using generalized linear models (GLM) to examine the impact of BMI and the intervention on total health care expenditures. Results: The intervention was cost neutral over the 2-year study period. Participants in the intervention group used less home health aide services ( p = .03) and had fewer nursing home days ( p = .05). The intervention appeared to have smaller effects on expenditures as BMI level increased. Discussion: The findings suggest that a health promotion intervention may achieve better beneficiary outcomes without an increase in resource use in this Medicare population.

Case management for long-term conditions: implementation and processes

This paper presents a structured literature review that focused on comprehensive case management by nurses for adults with long-term conditions living in the community. The emphases of the review are the implementation of case-management approaches, including its roles, core tasks and components, and the coverage and quality of the reported implementation data. Twenty-nine studies were included: the majority were concerned with case management for frail older people, and others focused on people with multiple chronic diseases, high-cost patients, or those at high risk of hospital admissions. All the studies reported that case managers undertook the core tasks of assessment, care planning and the implementation of the care plan, but there was more variation in who carried out case finding, monitoring, review and case closure. Few studies provided adequate implementation information. On the basis of the reviewed evidence, three issues were identified as key to the coherent and sustainable implementation of case management for people with long-term conditions: fidelity to the core elements of case management; size of caseload; and case-management practice, incorporating matters relating to the continuity of care, the intensity and breadth of involvement, and control over resources. It is recommended that future evaluations of case-management interventions include a comprehensive process component or, at the very least, that interventions should be more fully described.

Review of nurse home visiting interventions for community-dwelling older persons with existing disability

Despite there being a considerable number of meta-analyses and reviews synthesizing the nurse in-home visiting literature, there have been no reviews examining nurse in-home visiting for patients who are already disabled. This article presents a literature review and synthesis of 10 trials targeted on older adults with disability. The review is organized into structure and process components related to the outcome variable disability based on the classic Donabedian model. The review suggests that the components of in-home visiting associated with favorable disability outcomes include multiple home visits, geriatric training and experience, health provider collaboration, multidimensional assessment, and theory use. In contrast, lack of process measures, physician collaboration, training, and specific intervention components targeting disability are associated with ineffective interventions. This review helps provide insight into variables that influence disability outcomes as well as the development of best-practice models of in-home visiting to older adults with existing disability.

Patient and carer perceptions of case management for long-term conditions

Nurse-led case management programmes have become increasingly popular over the last 15 years. Countries such as the USA, Canada, Sweden and the Netherlands have long running case management programmes in place for frail elderly people. The Department of Health in England has recently introduced a 'community matron' role to provide case management to patients with highly complex long-term conditions; a group that is predominantly comprised of elderly people. Department of Health policy documents do not define the day-to-day role of community matrons but instead describe the objectives and principles of case management for long-term conditions. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe case management from the perspective of patients and carers in order to develop a clearer understanding of how the model is being delivered for patients with long-term conditions. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 72 patients and 52 carers who had experience of case management. Five categories of case management tasks emerged from the data: clinical care, co-ordination of care, education, advocacy and psychosocial support. Psychosocial support was emphasised by both patients and carers, and was viewed as equally important to clinical care. Patient and carer perceptions of case management appear to contrast with descriptions contained in Department of Health guidance, suggesting an 'implementation surplus' in relation to the policy. This particularly appears to be the case for psychosocial support activities, which are not described in official policy documents. The provision of significant psychosocial support by community matrons also appears to differentiate the model from most other case management programmes for frail elderly people described in the literature. The findings emphasise the importance of seeking patient and carer input when designing new case management programmes.

Moving from tacit knowledge to evidence-based practice: the Kaiser Permanente community partners study

For several decades both medical and social work practices have failed to consistently include measures to determine the effectiveness of their care and practices. This is especially true of care management practices. With the growth and aging of our population, this is of particular concern when many of our resources for older adults are channeled into services such as geriatric care management. This article describes a randomized controlled trial that tested the effectiveness of four levels of geriatric care management. Results from this study did not support the tacit knowledge of the clinicians in terms of the effectiveness of their practices. This article describes the study methods and results, and how evidence from this study impacted subsequent service provided by geriatric care managers.

Practice nurses and older people: a case management approach to care

AIM

This paper reports on aspects of a study designed to answer the research questions: (i) To what extent do practice nurses use the five cyclical elements of a case management approach when caring for people aged over 75 years? (ii) What determines or deters practice nurses' use of the cyclical elements of a case management approach in caring for older people?

BACKGROUND

Case management is an approach that uses a cyclical process of assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation to provide systematic proactive care to people with complex health and social care needs. In England, specialist practice nurse case managers for older people have been piloted in ten primary care trusts and the posts are to be implemented nationally by 2008. No baseline work has, however, considered the applicability of developing the existing generalist practice nurse workforce.

METHOD

A 26-item structured postal questionnaire was used to explore both practice nurses' use of a case management approach when working with older people, and what factors influenced the care provided. A random sample of 500 practice nurses was selected from the Royal College of Nursing Practice Nurse Association member database.

RESULTS

A 45% response rate was achieved. Practice nurses assessed, planned and implemented care, but reviewing medication opportunistically and evaluating the care were uncommon. A case management approach was significantly (P = 0.005) more likely to be used in on-going management activities than in one-off treatment room care. Practice nurses with postregistration education in district nursing were significantly (P = 0.016) more likely to refer patients to social care services. Lack of time and the central role of the general practitioner were the main reasons for not incorporating case management into practice. CONCLUSIONS. The extent to which practice nurses used elements of a case management approach was highly variable and influenced by individual professional expertise, the nature of the consultation and the practice nurse's position in the general practice.

Preventive home care of frail older people: a review of recent case management studies

Preventive actions targeting community-dwelling frail older people will be increasingly important with the growing number of very old and thereby also frail older people. This study aimed to explore and summarize the empirical literature on recent studies of case/care management interventions for community-dwelling frail older people and especially with regard to the content of the interventions and the nurse's role and outcome of it. Very few of the interventions took either a preventive or a rehabilitative approach using psycho-educative interventions focusing, for instance, on self-care activities, risk prevention, health complaints management or how to preserve or strengthen social activities, community involvement and functional ability. Moreover, it was striking that very few included a family-oriented approach also including support and education for informal caregivers. Thus it seems that the content of case/care management needs to be expanded and more influenced by a salutogenic health care perspective. Targeting frail older people seemed to benefit from a standardized two-stage strategy for inclusion and for planning the interventions. A comprehensive geriatric assessment seemed useful as a base. Nurses, preferably trained in gerontological practice, have a key role in case/care management for frail older people. This approach calls for developing the content of case/care management so that it involves a more salutogenic, rehabilitative and family-oriented approach. To this end it may be useful for nurses to strengthen their psychosocial skills or develop close collaboration with social workers. The outcome measures examined in this study represented one of three perspectives: the consumer's perspective, the perspective of health care consumption or the recipient's health and functional ability. Perhaps effects would be expected in all three areas and thus these should be included in evaluative studies in addition to measures for family and/or informal caregiver's strain and satisfaction.

The feasibility and acceptability of a specialist health and social care team for the promotion of health and independence in 'at risk' older adults

Population ageing, escalating costs in pensions, health-care and long-term care have prompted a new policy agenda for active ageing and quality of life in old age across the European Union and other developed countries. In England, the National Service Framework for Older People (NSF OP) explicitly demands for the first time that the NHS and local authorities, in partnership, agree programmes to promote health ageing and to prevent disease in older people. These programmes are expected to improve access for older people to mainstream health promotion services and also to develop multiagency initiatives to promote health, independence and well-being in old age. This paper describes the evaluation of one interagency project team established to test out mechanisms for addressing health promotion for older people through primary care. A mixed methodology was used to understand the processes of service development, the impact of the team's intervention, and the primary and secondary outcomes for older people. The project demonstrated that multi-agency partnerships have the potential to improve the quality of the lives of older people deemed 'at risk' by their general practitioners, particularly through income generation but also in the identification of medical problems such as unrecognised hypertension, hearing loss and visual loss. It also offered some key learning points for other multi-agency groups developing similar services.

Shifting the paradigm in geriatric care management: moving from the medical model to patient-centered care

Studies of Geriatric Care Management Programs have had mixed results at best. Little evidence exists to attest to the effectiveness of these programs in improving patient outcomes and decreasing avoidable acute care service use. In response to these data, Kaiser Permanente's Geriatric Care Management program initiated a randomized trial to test an integrated, multifaceted depression treatment model within the care management framework and it's ability to detect and treat moderately and severely depressed older adults. This paper presents case studies of the geriatric care managers' practice changes associated with this intervention as well as case studies of two depressed clients, their experiences and outcomes associated with this study. Implications of this model are discussed.

Nurse-led case management for older people with long-term conditions

People in the UK are successfully living longer but demonstrating an increased incidence of long-term conditions. In response to this, there has been a growth of service models that draw on the principles of case management, particularly for those older people with multiple and complex needs. Nurses working in primary care, and district nurses in particular, have always made a significant contribution to the care of older people with long-term, chronic conditions using case management techniques. However, the recent emphasis on case management has created new and expanded roles for nurse in primary care as the providers and coordinators of care. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of service models that use a case management approach and the current evidence for their effectiveness. We will then describe current examples of nurse-led case management in the UK and discuss some key issues for nurses in primary care and their patients.

Kaiser Permanente's Manifesto 2005 Demonstration

In 1996, the eight-million member Kaiser Permanente HMO adopted a vision statement that said by 2005 it would expand its services to include home- and community-based services for its members with disabilities. It funded a 3-year, 32-site demonstration that showed that it was feasible to link HMO services with existing home-and community-based (HCB) services and that members appreciated the improved coordination and access. This private-sector project showed that devolution can produce innovative and feasible models of care, but it also showed that without federal financial and regulatory support, such models are unlikely to take hold if they are focused on "unprofitable" populations, for example, those who are chronically ill, poor, and/or disabled.

Organizational interventions to improve health outcomes of older persons

BACKGROUND

With the reorganization of the financing of health care and creation of systems of care, it is possible to design and implement organizational interventions to improve the care of older persons beyond the services that can be provided by an individual provider.

OBJECTIVES

To review the effectiveness of organizational interventions for older persons, describe barriers to dissemination of success models into practice settings, and identify future directions for such interventions.

METHODS

Selective review of organizational interventions that have been aimed primarily at the geriatric population and have been formally evaluated using conventional research designs, usually randomized clinical trials.

RESULTS

Organizational interventions can be classified into two groups: component models and systems changes. The former can be superimposed upon an intact system but do not fundamentally change the system of care whereas the latter modify the basic structure of primary care. A variety of organizational interventions have been implemented in diverse settings, but the evidence supporting the effectiveness of these interventions is inconsistent. Even when such interventions have been effective in research settings, these interventions rarely reduce health care costs. Moreover, there have been formidable barriers to implementation of successful interventions into practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Organizational interventions are potentially powerful methods to influence health care and maintain health status of older persons. Nevertheless, gaps between knowledge and practice and unanswered questions about the effectiveness of organizational interventions currently limit the potential value of this approach to improving health care of older persons.

Integrating behavior change theory into geriatric case management practice

Case management practices have continued to grow despite a lack of clear evidence of their efficacy. With the expanding segment of the elderly population, there is a critical need to develop and identify programs that will address the many needs of the aging. Geriatric Case Management has been the avenue selected by many health care providers to address these issues, focusing on maintaining health status and improving linkages with medical and community resources. Studies testing the effectiveness of these models have failed to demonstrate their effectiveness in reducing depression, reducing acute care service use, and improving or maintaining health status. The Geriatric Case Management models presented in these lack an evidence-based, theoretical framework that provides definition and direction for case management practice. This article introduces behavior change theories as a method of structuring and delineating the case management intervention. The Transtheoretical Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior are discussed and methods of integrating these theories into practice are discussed.