A Cost Benefit analysis of medical hospital readmissions comparing patient groups referred to the Partnership for Health Program clinic in Lowndes County Georgia from South Georgia Medical Center Valdosta Georgia under a collaborative primary care transition plan(DTP) for uninsured working Adult patients below 200% Federal Poverty Level. Pubblico

Agbali, Raphael A. (2014)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/g732d941q?locale=it
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Abstract

Abstract

A Cost Benefit analysis of medical hospital readmissions comparing patient groups referred to the Partnership for Health Program clinic in Lowndes County Georgia from the South Georgia Medical Center under a collaborative primary care transition plan(DTP) for uninsured working Adults below 200% Federal Poverty Level.

BY

RAPHAEL AYEGBA AGBALI R.Ph

Hospital discharge to community level primary health transition planning has been increasingly identified as a potentially modifiable area for healthcare outcomes improvement. Benefits and costs of a free clinic program from societal perspective are frequently taken for granted as charitable safety nets.

The US healthcare environment is undergoing rapid change and different stakeholders strive to project into the future with some degree of certainty. Economic evaluations help illuminate viable interventions in this setting.

Methods: This study utilized referral log and aggregate medical recent hospitalization data from the Partnership Health Clinic to compare post referral costs and benefits between patients who enrolled in free clinic care and non-adherent patients who did not enroll. 30 day all cause readmission was the clinical measure. Both groups had no insurance and no primary care physician. Readmission costs were estimated using the uninsured dataset of the Healthcare Utilization project (HCUP) database for 2011 then matched to actual length of stay for each study group. cost to charge ratios from MedPAR were used to obtain real life estimates.Household income data for Lowndes County were obtained from the US Census fact finder and clinic transportation estimated from the Georgia non-emergency medical workers compensation transportation allowable rates 2013.

Results: Total referred patient sample was 58 (Clinic enrolled= 26; non-enrolled=32). Net cost of prevented readmission was $16,377.12 for the enrolled patient group with a net financial benefit of $3,890.9 compared to the non-enrolled group (p=0.49). Net difference in hospital length of stay between groups was 25 days while the baseline readmission rate was found to be 25.86 % with readmission rate in the non-enrolled was 34.37%.

Summary: A collaborative discharge transition plan between the South Georgia Medical Center and the charitable Partnership Health Clinic in Valdosta, Georgia generates cost savings to society. Increased enrollment has the capacity to further lower fixed costs, generating future savings to society.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Public Health Problem1 Role of Free Clinics 2 Partnership Clinic 3 Study Purpose 4 Baseline Practices 5 Intervention 5 Questions to be answered by the Economic Evaluation 6 Definition of Terms7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

Introduction 8

Body 8

Uninsured Status 9

Readmissions11

Location12

SGMC Practices________________________________________________________13

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY16

Introduction 16

Population and Sample 17 Population 17

Sample 17

Methodological Framework 18

Design 19 Analytic Horizon 18

Case Definition19

Costs (PHC enrolled) 19

Costs (PHC non enrolled) 20

Data Dictionary and Plan ___ 21

Cost Estimation methods ___ 21

Costs (Non-emergency Transport to and fro clinic) __ 23

Market price adjustment_________________________________________________ 23

Costs: Lost Income______________________________________________________ 23

Costs: Referral Costs_____________________________________________________ 23

Costs: Clinic encounter generated __________________________________________ 24

Benefits Estimation 25

General Cost Assumptions 26

Methodological process ___26

Data Collection 30

Hospitalization Data ___30

Clinic encounter data ___30

Cost capture methodology ___31

Data analysis plan ___33

Data definition ___34

Benefits (Denominator) ___35

Data Dictionary and worksheet ___36

Calculations for Costs and Benefits ___40

Group Analysis ___41

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 41

Introduction 41

Findings- Demographics and distribution 41

Healthcare measures : results 42

Tangible Costs-Partnership health Clinic 47

Tangible Costs-Patient Incurred 47

Cost Benefit ratio 48

Marginal Cost-Benefit Ratio 48

Net Benefits 49

Present and Future Valuation 49

The case for or against sensitivity analysis 50

Other Findings 50

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ___ 51

Introduction 51

Summary of Study 51 Conclusions Limitations____________________________________________________________ _53

Recommendations for the Partnership Health Clinic 54

Recommendations for Future Studies __ 54

Bibliography __ 55

APPENDIX B: BLS Bureau for Labor provider prevailing wages 60

APPENDIX A: Clinic Expenditures 2013_____________________________________ _61


LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Hospital compare data table SGMC April 2012_March 2013 15

Table 2 Summary of costs by stakeholders 47

Table 3 Benefits and Averted Costs 48

Table 4 Data dictionary and worksheet 37

Table 5 Results: Demographic Distribution 41

Table 6: Re-admission rates and In-between group differences 44

Table 7 Overall benefits in US Dollars: Direct and Indirect 45

Table 8 Combined costs and benefits by group 47

Table 9 Overall cost estimates by stakeholders. 46

Table 10 Present and future value of Hospital costs: 5 year discounted costs 50

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.Map of state of Georgia with Lowndes County inset 13

Figure 2. Schematic design 28.

Figure 3. Graph of sample distribution by gender 41

Figure 4 Graph of sample age distribution 41

Figure 5 Graph of sample by race distribution 41

Figure 6 Graph of index admission by month of occurrence 41

Figure 7 Scatter plot of 1st re-admissions by age group (non-enrolled) 42


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