Reach, engagement and effectiveness of in-person and online lifestyle change programs to prevent diabetes.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has accelerated interest in and need for online delivery of healthcare. We examined the reach, engagement and effectiveness of online delivery of lifestyle change programs (LCP) modelled after the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) in a multistate, real-world setting. METHODS: Longitudinal, non-randomized study comparing online and in-person LCP in a large multistate sample delivered over 1 year. Sample included at-risk adults (n = 26,743) referred to online (n = 9) and in-person (n = 11) CDC-recognized LCP from a multi-state registry (California, Florida and Colorado) between 2015 and 2018. The main outcome was effectiveness (proportion achieving > 5% weight loss) at one-year. Our secondary outcomes included reach (proportion enrolled among referred) and engagement (proportion ≥ 9 sessions by week 26). We used logistic regression modelling to assess the association between participant- and setting -level characteristics with meaningful weight loss. RESULTS: Online LCP effectiveness was lower, with 23% of online participants achieving > 5% weight loss, compared with 35% of in-person participants (p < 0.001). More adults referred to online programs enrolled (56% vs 51%, p < 0.001), but fewer engaged at 6-months (attendance at ≥9 sessions 46% vs 66%, p < 0.001) compared to in-person participants. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to adults referred to in-person LCP, those referred to online LCP were more likely to enroll and less likely to engage. Online participants achieved modest meaningful weight loss. Online delivery of LCP is an attractive strategy to deliver and scale DPP, particularly with social distancing measures currently in place. However, it is unclear how to optimize delivery models for maximal impact given trade-offs in reach and effectiveness.

Participation and weight loss in online National Diabetes Prevention Programs: a comparison of age and gender subgroups.

Early onset diabetes has adverse transgenerational effects, yet in-person National Diabetes Prevention Programs (NDPPs) have low reach among adults of peak reproductive age. We examined participation and weight loss with online NDPPs for younger versus older adults. Solera Health, Inc., collected data from 12,966 adults who enrolled in a yearlong online NDPP from 2015 to 2018. We used general linear models and logistic regression to assess differences between younger and older adults (<45 vs. ≥45 years) in session initiation (logging in), session completion (activities approximating intensity of in-person classes), and weight loss, overall and according to engagement thresholds. Almost all (N = 12,497, 96%) individuals who enrolled initiated ≥1 session(s), but fewer (N = 2,408, 19%) completed ≥4 sessions over ≥9 months, achieving 4.5% weight loss on average. Among all enrollees with ≥2 weights (N = 10,161), younger men and women lost less weight (1.8% and 1.7%, respectively) than older men (3.3%) and women (2.7%; all p < .05). Among all enrollees who completed ≥4 sessions over ≥9 months, weight loss did not differ between older men (4.3%), older women (4.0%), and younger men (3.5%), but younger women achieved less weight loss (3.0%) than older adults (all p < .001). Online programming supports NDPP reach and weight loss, although younger adults completed fewer sessions and young women achieved less weight loss than older adults. Efforts to increase ongoing engagement among younger adults are needed to prevent early onset of diabetes and adverse transgenerational effects.

Medicaid patients seen at federally qualified health centers use hospital services less than those seen by private providers.

Federally qualified health centers, also known as community health centers, play an essential role in providing health care to millions of Americans. In return for providing primary care to underserved, homeless, and migrant populations, these centers are reimbursed at a higher rate than other providers by public programs such as Medicaid. Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the role of the centers is expected to grow. To examine the quality of care that the centers provide, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing compared the use of costly hospital-related services by Medicaid clients whose usual source of care was a community health center with the use by clients whose usual source of care was a private, fee-for-service provider. The study found that community health center users were about one-third less likely than the other group to have emergency department visits, inpatient hospitalizations, or preventable hospital admissions. Public funders such as states should work with community health centers to improve the quality and reduce the cost of care even further.

Diabetes disease management results in Hispanic Medicaid patients.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate outcomes of a telephonic nursing disease management program for Medicaid patients with diabetes residing in Puerto Rico. STUDY DESIGN: A 12-month, matched-cohort study. STUDY POPULATION: Four hundred and ninety (490) intervention group members matched to 490 controls. INTERVENTION: Disease management diabetes program. For those in the intervention group, the disease management program customized a self-management intervention plan. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Medical service utilization, including hospitalizations, emergency department visits, physician evaluation and management visits, selected clinical indicators, and financial impact. RESULTS: The intervention group showed significant effects compared with the control group, including a 48% reduction in inpatient bed days, and a 23% increase in ACE inhibitor use, resulting in a return on investment estimate of 3.8:1. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates that a nursing disease management program for diabetes can significantly improve hospitalizations, drug compliance, and vaccinations in a Hispanic Medicaid population.

Evaluation of a medicaid asthma disease management program.

This study evaluates 1-year outcomes of an asthma disease management program implemented in an Oregon Medicaid population. A non-randomized pre-post study, a matched case-control study, and a "programmatic effects" analysis were conducted. Compared to matched controls, the treatment cohort had significantly fewer emergency room visits per thousand (7 vs. 28, P < 0.001) and higher office visits per thousand (57 vs. 7, P < 0.0001) but no significant difference in hospital admission rates. The programmatic effects model identified the participants' initial severity levels and the number of various communications they received as the most important variables in explaining the change in asthma severity from baseline to 12 months. These findings are supportive of the DM design, which is to reduce acute services by improving coordination of care between patients and their providers. Additionally, it appears that there is a close association between the number of patient contacts and their subsequent change in health status.

Health services outcomes for a diabetes disease management program for the elderly.

Our objective was to investigate the utilization, drug, and clinical outcomes of a telephonic nursing disease management (DM) program for elderly patients with diabetes. We employed a 24-month, matched-cohort study employing propensity score matching. The setting involved Medicare + Choice recipients residing in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. There were 610 intervention group members over the age of 65 matched to a control group of members over the age of 65. The DM diabetes program employed a structured, evidence-based, telephonic nursing intervention designed to provide patient education, counseling, and monitoring services. Measurements consisted of Medical service utilization, including hospitalizations, emergency department visits, physician evaluation and management visits, skilled nursing facility days, drug utilization, and selected clinical indicators. Among the results, the intervention group had considerably and significantly lower rates of acute service utilization compared to the control group, including a 17.5% reduction in hospitalizations, 22.4% reduction in bed days, 12.3% increase in physician evaluation and management visits, 23.7% increase in angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor use, 13.3% increase in blood glucose regulator use, 11.8% increase in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) tests, 10.3% increase in lipid panels, 26.0% increase in eye exams, and 35.5% increase in microalbumin tests. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that a commercially delivered diabetes DM program significantly reduces hospitalizations and bed-days while increasing the use of ACE inhibitors and blood glucose regulators along with selected clinical procedures such as HbA1c tests, lipid panels, eye exams, and microalbumin tests.

A matched-cohort study of utilization outcomes for an adult medicaid population enrolled in an asthma disease management program.

Few studies have examined the clinical and utilization impact of asthma disease management programs for Medicaid beneficiaries. This study examines utilization and clinical outcomes for an adult group of low- to moderate-risk patients with asthma. Propensity scores are used to construct matched samples of treated-control pairs in order to establish equivalent comparison groups and evaluate the effects of program participation. During the program period, the participants experienced 33.3% fewer hospitalizations, 42% fewer bed days, 87% fewer asthma-related admissions, fewer ED visits, and higher rates of medication usage than those for matched controls, suggesting the beneficial impact of participation for Medicaid program participants.

A matched-cohort study of health services utilization and financial outcomes for a heart failure disease-management program in elderly patients.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the utilization and financial outcomes of a telephonic nursing disease-management program for elderly patients with heart failure. DESIGN: A 1-year concurrent matched-cohort study employing propensity score matching. SETTING: Medicare+Choice recipients residing in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 533 program participants aged 65 and older matched to nonparticipants. INTERVENTION: Disease-management heart failure program employing a structured, evidence-based, telephonic nursing intervention designed to provide patient education, counseling, and monitoring services. MEASUREMENTS: Medical service utilization, including hospitalizations, emergency department visits, medical doctor visits, skilled nursing facility (SNF) days, selected clinical indicators, and financial effect. RESULTS: The intervention group had considerably and significantly lower rates of acute service utilization than the control group, including 23% fewer hospitalizations, 26% fewer inpatient bed days, 22% fewer emergency department visits, 44% fewer heart failure hospitalizations, 70% fewer 30-day readmissions, and 45% fewer SNF bed days. Claims costs were 1,792 dollars per person lower in the intervention group than in the control group (inclusive of intervention costs), and the return on investment was calculated to be 2.31. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that a commercially delivered heart failure disease-management program significantly reduced hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and SNF days. The intervention group had 17% lower costs than the control group; when intervention costs were included, the intervention group had 10% lower costs.

Diabetes disease management in a community-based setting.

PURPOSE: The medical cost of diabetes in the United States in 1997 was at least $98 billion. This study illustrates the behavioral change and medical-care utilization impact that occurs in a community-based setting of a diabetes disease-management program that is applied to program participants in a health insurance plan's health maintenance organization and preferred provider organization. DESIGN: A historical control comparison of diabetes-management participants. METHODOLOGY: One hundred twenty-seven identified diabetes patients are followed from baseline through 1 year. Differences in behavior are compared at program intake and at a 6-month reassessment. Differences in medical-service utilization are compared in the baseline year and the year subsequent to program enrollment. Poisson multivariate-regression models are estimated for counts of inpatient, emergency department, physician evaluation and management, and facility visits, while also controlling for potential confounders. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Behaviors improved between program intake and the 6-month reassessment. From patient reports, the number of participants having a hemoglobin A1c test increased by 44.9 percent (p < .001), and there was a 53.2-percent decrease in symptoms of hyperglycemia (p = .002). From medical claims after program enrollment, a drop occurred during the program year in every dimension of medical-service utilization. Regression results show that in-patient admissions decreased by 391 (p < .001) per 1,000 for each group, while controlling for age, length of membership, and the number of comorbid claims for congestive heart failure. In the analysis of costs that were pre- and post-enrollment, which included disease-management program costs, a 4.34:1 return on investment was calculated. CONCLUSION: The diabetes program provides patients with comprehensive information and counseling relative to practicing self-management of diabetes through a number of integrated program components. This study strongly suggests that the implementation of such a program is associated with positive behavioral change and, thus, with substantial reduction in medical-service utilization. In addition, the intervention resulted in a net decrease in direct medical costs.