Patient-centered outcomes of a value-based insurance design program for patients with diabetes.

Value-based insurance design (VBID) initiatives have been associated with modest improvements in adherence based on evaluations of administrative claims data. The objective of this prospective cohort study was to report the patient-centered outcomes of a VBID program that eliminated co-payments for diabetes-related medications and supplies for employees and dependents with diabetes at a large health system. The authors compared self-reported values of medication adherence, cost-related nonadherence, health status, and out-of-pocket health care costs for patients before and 1 year after program implementation. Clinical metrics and satisfaction with the program also are reported. In all, 188 patients completed the follow-up evaluation. Overall, patients reported a significant reduction in monthly out-of-pocket costs (P<0.001), which corresponded to a significant reduction in cost-related nonadherence from 41% to 17.5% (P<0.001). Self-reported medication adherence increased for hyperglycemic medications (P=0.011), but there were no apparent changes in glycemic control. Overall, 89% of participants agreed that the program helped them take better care of their diabetes. The authors found that a VBID program for employees and dependents with diabetes was associated with self-reported reductions in cost-related nonadherence and improvements in medication adherence. Importantly, the program was associated with high levels of satisfaction among participants and strongly perceived by participants to facilitate medication utilization and self-management for diabetes. These findings suggest that VBID programs can accomplish the anticipated goals for medication utilization and are highly regarded by participants. Patient-centered outcomes should be included in VBID evaluations to allow decision makers to determine the true impact of VBID programs on participants.

Identification of overweight, obesity, and elevated blood pressure: a school-based health center performance improvement initiative.

A growing public health concern over the increasing prevalence of adolescent overweight and obesity and 2007 Expert Committee recommendations on child and adolescent overweight and obesity prompted a performance improvement project at 9 school-based health centers (SBHCs) in Delaware. Body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure measurements were assessed for 1548 students during the 2008-2009 school year. Students identified as having BMI or blood pressure readings out of the normal range were offered nutritional and/or medical services at the center and referred to their primary care physicians, when necessary, for further medical follow-up. Four of the centers additionally assessed their students for needed immunizations, availability of medical insurance, access to a medical home, and psychosocial risk factors. Students identified as in need of additional services were given appropriate referrals. Follow-up data are now being collected for students identified to be at risk.

You've led the horse to water, now how do you get him to drink: managing change and increasing utilization of computerized provider order entry.

Community hospitals served by predominately private-practice physicians face difficult challenges in implementing computerized provider order entry (CPOE), but there are techniques and incentives that can be employed to change physician behavior Various techniques were used to increase CPOE utilization at Lehigh Valley Hospital, a three-campus, 750-bed tertiary community hospital in eastern Pennsylvania. Those techniques included presenting studies supporting CPOE as a way to improve patient care, recognizing support with small trinkets, providing individual access to computers, adding clinical decision support, and bringing peer pressure to bear Ultimately, financial compensation for the educational time required to learn to use and become proficient with the system was employed and had the greatest impact on behavior Measuring utilization of the CPOE system with data extracted from the hospital's clinical information system, CPOE utilization by physicians increased to 57 percent from 35 percent after a financial compensation program was initiated. Utilization declined to 42 percent several months after completing the first phase of the program and increased to 54 percent after a second phase was initiated.