Cost Variation in Diabetes Care across Dutch Care Groups?

OBJECTIVE: The introduction of bundled payment for diabetes care in the Netherlands led to the origination of care groups. This study explored to what extent variation in health care costs per patient can be attributed to the performance of care groups. Furthermore, the commonly applied simple mean aggregation was compared with the more advanced generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to benchmark health care costs per patient between care groups. DATA SOURCE: Dutch 2009 nationwide insurance claims data of diabetes type 2 patients (104,544 patients, 50 care groups). STUDY DESIGN: Both a simple mean aggregation and a GLMM approach was applied to rank care groups, using two different health care costs variables: total treatment health care costs and diabetes-specific specialist care costs per diabetes patient. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Care groups varied slightly in the first and mainly in the second indicator. Care group variation was not explained by composition. Although the ranking methods were correlated, some care groups' rank positions differed, with consequences on the top-10 and the low-10 positions. CONCLUSIONS: Differences between care groups exist when an appropriate indicator and a sophisticated aggregation technique is used. Currently applied benchmarking may have unfair consequences for some care groups.

A systematic review of financial incentives given in the healthcare setting; do they effectively improve physical activity levels?

BACKGROUND: According to current physical activity guidelines, a substantial percentage of the population in high-income countries is inactive, and inactivity is an important risk factor for chronic conditions and mortality. Financial incentives may encourage people to become more active. The objective of this review was to provide insight in the effectiveness of financial incentives used for promoting physical activity in the healthcare setting. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in three databases: Medline, EMBASE and SciSearch. In total, 1395 papers published up until April 2015 were identified. Eleven of them were screened on in- and exclusion criteria based on the full-text publication. RESULTS: Three studies were included in the review. Two studies combined a financial incentive with nutrition classes or motivational interviewing. One of these provided a free membership to a sports facility and the other one provided vouchers for one episode of aerobic activities at a local leisure center or swimming pool. The third study provided a schedule for exercise sessions. None of the studies addressed the preferences of their target population with regard to financial incentives. Despite some short-term effects, neither of the studies showed significant long-term effects of the financial incentive. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the limited number of studies and the diversity in findings, no solid conclusion can be drawn regarding the effectiveness of financial incentives on physical activity in the healthcare setting. Therefore, there is a need for more research on the effectiveness of financial incentives in changing physical activity behavior in this setting. There is possibly something to be gained by studying the preferred type and size of the financial incentive.

Integrated care programs for patients with psychological comorbidity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Presently, little is known about the characteristics and impact of integrated care programs for patients with psychological comorbidity. The aim was to provide an overview of these integrated care programs and their effectiveness. METHODS: Systematic literature review including papers published between 1995 and 2014. An integrated care program had to consist of interventions related to at least two out of the six components of the Chronic Care Model. Programs had to address patients with psychological comorbidity, which is a psychological disease next to a somatic chronic disease. A meta-analysis was performed on depression treatment response and a best evidence synthesis was performed on other outcomes. RESULTS: Ten programs were identified, which mostly addressed comorbid depression and consisted of interventions related to three to five components of the Chronic Care Model. Meta-analysis showed significantly higher odds for depression treatment response for patients receiving integrated care (OR: 2.49, 95%CI [1.66-3.75]). Best evidence synthesis suggested moderate evidence for cost-effectiveness and for a beneficial effect on patient satisfaction and emotional well-being. Insufficient evidence was found for a beneficial effect on health-related quality of life, medication adherence, Hb1Ac levels and mortality. CONCLUSION: There are few studies evaluating integrated care programs for patients with psychological comorbidity. Although these studies suggest that integrated care programs could positively affect several patient outcomes and could be cost-effective, additional studies are recommended to further assess the value of integrated care for this patient group. This is especially important since the number of people with psychological comorbidity is rising.