Impact of a Patient Navigator Program on Hospital-Based and Outpatient Utilization Over 180 Days in a Safety-Net Health System.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With emerging global payment structures, medical systems need to understand longer-term impacts of care transition strategies.

Objective

To determine the effect of a care transition program using patient navigators (PNs) on health service utilization among high-risk safety-net patients over a 180-day period.

Design

Randomized controlled trial conducted October 2011 through April 2013.

Participants

Patients admitted to the general medicine service with ≥1 readmission risk factor: (1) age ≥ 60; (2) in-network inpatient admission within prior 6 months; (3) index length of stay ≥ 3 days; or (4) admission diagnosis of heart failure or (5) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The analytic sample included 739 intervention patients, 1182 controls.

Inter

SUBMITTER: Balaban RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5570741 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature