Transitional Care Models for High-Need, High-Cost Adults in the United States: A Scoping Review and Gap Analysis

We Rely on Relationships: Homeless Service Providers' Experiences in Coordinating Care Transitions During COVID-19

PURPOSE OF STUDY

Care coordination occurring across multiple sectors of care, such as when professionals in health or social service organizations collaborate to transition patients from hospitals to community-based settings like homeless shelters, happens regularly in practice. While health services research is full of studies on the experiences of case management and care coordination professionals within health care settings, few studies highlight the perspective of nonclinical homeless service providers (HSPs) in coordinating care transitions.

PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTING

This study explores the experience of nonclinical HSPs, employed in a large homeless service agency in New York, United States, responsible for coordinating care transitions of patients presenting to a homeless shelter after hospitalization, with attention to COVID-19 impact.

METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with providers at three hierarchical levels (frontline, managerial, and executive). The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The implementation science framework Normalization Process Theory was used to structure semi-deductive coding categories.

RESULTS

The findings included three major themes that highlight promoting and inhibiting factors in care coordination, including a reliance on informal relationships, the impact of strong hierarchical structures, and a lack of collaborative cross-sector information exchange pathways. Altogether, findings offer insights from an infrequently studied professional group engaging in cross-sector care coordination for a high-risk population. Operational insights can inform future research to ensure that the implementation of interventions to improve cross-sector care coordination is evidence-based.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

This study of nonclinical HSPs facilitating care transitions demonstrates the importance of understanding this critical provider population. Opportunities for acute care case managers and administrators include the importance of relationships, reciprocal education on the differences in work settings, and the need for administrative structure to ensure complex clinical information is effectively translated.

Effective Care Transitions: Reducing Readmissions to Improve Patient Care and Outcomes

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

Care transitions from one setting to another are vulnerable spaces where patients are susceptible to complications. Health systems, accountable care organizations, and payers recognize that care transition interventions are necessary to reduce unnecessary cost and utilization and improve patient outcomes following a hospitalization. Multiple care transition models exist, with varying degrees of intensity and success. This article describes a quality improvement project for a care transition model that incorporates key elements from the American Case Management Association's Transitions of Care Standards and the Transitional Care Management services as outlined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTING

A collaboratively developed care transition model was implemented between a health system population health management office and a primary care organization.

FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS

An effective care transitions model is stronger with collaboration among core members of a patient's care team, including a nurse care manager and a primary care provider. Ongoing quality improvement is necessary to gain efficiencies and effectiveness of such a model.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

Care managers are integral in coordinating effective transitions. Care management practice includes transition of care standards that are associated with improved outcomes for patients at high risk for readmission. Interventions inclusive of medication reconciliation, identification and addressing of health-related social needs, review of discharge instructions, and coordinated follow-up are important factors that impact patient outcomes. Patients and their health system care teams benefit from the role of a care manager when there is a collaborative, coordinated, and timely approach to hospital follow-up.

Transitions in care: Piloting a neurocritical care clinic with nurse practitioners and physician associates

ABSTRACT

The transition period from hospital to home is a vulnerable time for rehospitalization and adverse events for patients. Follow-up clinic visits within 7-14 days of discharge is an effective strategy for reducing hospital readmissions. Neurocritical care patients have a unique set of needs to safely transition to home. We evaluated the feasibility of a Neuroscience Rapid Follow-Up Clinic with nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician associates (PAs) to meet transitional care gaps in neurocritical care patients and prevent rehospitalization. Clinic procedures and documentation templates were customized for the pilot clinic. Five NPs and one PA underwent a brief training course for the ambulatory care setting. Eligible patients were tracked throughout the hospitalization and the team made follow-up appointments. The pilot clinic took place from October 2022 to January 2023. Nine patients were seen in the clinic approximately 8 days after discharge. The clinic attendance rate was 90%. Among the clinic attendees, 66% received referrals to a primary care provider or other services, one third received medication changes or refills and all received patient-specific education. There were no rehospitalizations among the clinic patients. Implementation of this pilot clinic was possible with the current departmental resources. This innovative model of care has the potential to reduce hospital readmissions.

Ambulatory Care Coordination Data Gathering and Use

Care coordination is a crucial component of healthcare systems. However, little is known about data needs and uses in ambulatory care coordination practice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify information gathered and used to support care coordination in ambulatory settings. Survey respondents (33) provided their demographics and practice patterns, including use of electronic health records, as well as data gathered and used. Most of the respondents were nurses, and they described varying practice settings and patterns. Although most described at least partial use of electronic health records, two respondents described paper documentation systems. More than 25% of respondents gathered and used most of the 72 data elements, with collection and use often occurring in multiple locations and contexts. This early study demonstrates significant heterogeneity in ambulatory care coordination data usage. Additional research is necessary to identify common data elements to support knowledge development in the context of a learning health system.

Expanding the evidence for cross-sector collaboration in implementation science: creating a collaborative, cross-sector, interagency, multidisciplinary team to serve patients experiencing homelessness and medical complexity at hospital discharge

Introduction

Patients with medical and social complexity require care administered through cross-sector collaboration (CSC). Due to organizational complexity, biomedical emphasis, and exacerbated needs of patient populations, interventions requiring CSC prove challenging to implement and study. This report discusses challenges and provides strategies for implementation of CSC through a collaborative, cross-sector, interagency, multidisciplinary team model.

Methods

A collaborative, cross-sector, interagency, multidisciplinary team was formed called the Buffalo City Mission Recuperative Care Collaborative (RCU Collaborative), in Buffalo, NY, to provide care transition support for people experiencing homelessness at acute care hospital discharge through a medical respite program. Utilizing the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) framework and feedback from cross-sector collaborative team, implementation strategies were drawn from three validated ERIC implementation strategy clusters: 1) Develop stakeholder relationships; 2) Use evaluative and iterative strategies; 3) Change infrastructure.

Results

Stakeholders identified the following factors as the main barriers: organizational culture clash, disparate visions, and workforce challenges related to COVID-19. Identified facilitators were clear group composition, clinical academic partnerships, and strategic linkages to acute care hospitals.

Discussion

A CSC interagency multidisciplinary team can facilitate complex care delivery for high-risk populations, such as medical respite care. Implementation planning is critically important when crossing agency boundaries for new multidisciplinary program development. Insights from this project can help to identify and minimize barriers and optimize utilization of facilitators, such as academic partners. Future research will address external organizational influences and emphasize CSC as central to interventions, not simply a domain to consider during implementation.

Identifying patterns of clinical conditions among high-cost older adult health care users using claims data: a latent class approach

Objectives

To identify patterns of clinical conditions among high-cost older adults health care users and explore the associations between characteristics of high-cost older adults and patterns of clinical conditions.

Methods

We analyzed data from the Shanghai Basic Social Medical Insurance Database, China. A total of 2927 older adults aged 60 years and over were included as the analysis sample. We used latent class analysis to identify patterns of clinical conditions among high-cost older adults health care users. Multinomial logistic regression models were also used to determine the associations between demographic characteristics, insurance types, and patterns of clinical conditions.

Results

Five clinically distinctive subgroups of high-cost older adults emerged. Classes included “cerebrovascular diseases” (10.6% of high-cost older adults), “malignant tumor” (9.1%), “arthrosis” (8.8%), “ischemic heart disease” (7.4%), and “other sporadic diseases” (64.1%). Age, sex, and type of medical insurance were predictors of high-cost older adult subgroups.

Conclusions

Profiling patterns of clinical conditions among high-cost older adults is potentially useful as a first step to inform the development of tailored management and intervention strategies.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12939-022-01688-3.

Frailty and Determinants of Health Among Older Adults in the United States 2011-2016

Objective

To characterize frailty phenotype in a representative cohort of older Americans and examine determinants of health factors.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of data from 5,553 adults ≥60 years old in the 2011–2016 cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). World Health Organization “Determinants of Health” conceptual model was used to prioritize variables for multinomial logistic regression for the outcome of modified Fried frailty phenotype.

Results

482 participants (9%) were frail and 2432 (44%) prefrail. Four factors were highly associated with frailty: difficulty with ≥1 activity of daily living (77%; OR 24.81 p < 0.01), ≥2 hospitalizations in the previous year (17%, OR 3.94 p < 0.01), having >2 comorbidities (27%; OR 3.33 p < 0.01), and polypharmacy (66%; OR 2.38 p < 0.01).

Discussion

A modified Fried frailty assessment incorporating five self-reported criteria may be useful as a rapid nursing screen in low-resource settings. These assessments can streamline nursing care coordination and case management activities, thereby facilitating targeted frailty interventions to support healthy aging in vulnerable populations.