Effectiveness of multidisciplinary team case management: difference-in-differences analysis.
Author(s)
Stokes, Jonathan
Kristensen, Søren Rud
Checkland, Kath
Bower, Peter
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a multidisciplinary team (MDT) case management intervention, at the individual (direct effects of intervention) and practice levels (potential spillover effects). DESIGN: Difference-in-differences design with multiple intervention start dates, analysing hospital admissions data. In secondary analyses, we stratified individual-level results by risk score. SETTING: Single clinical commissioning group (CCG) in the UK's National Health Service (NHS). PARTICIPANTS: At the individual level, we matched 2049 intervention patients using propensity scoring one-to-one with control patients. At the practice level, 30 practices were compared using a natural experiment through staged implementation. INTERVENTION: Practice Integrated Care Teams (PICTs), using MDT case management of high-risk patients together with a summary record of care versus usual care. DIRECT AND INDIRECT OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary measures of intervention effects were accident and emergency (A&E) visits; inpatient non-elective stays, 30-day re-admissions; inpatient elective stays; outpatient visits; and admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions. Secondary measures included inpatient length of stay; total cost of secondary care services; and patient satisfaction (at the practice level only). RESULTS: At the individual level, we found slight, clinically trivial increases in inpatient non-elective admissions (+0.01 admissions per patient per month; 95% CI 0.00 to 0.01. Effect size (ES): 0.02) and 30-day re-admissions (+0.00; 0.00 to 0.01. ES: 0.03). We found no indication that highest risk patients benefitted more from the intervention. At the practice level, we found a small decrease in inpatient non-elective admissions (-0.63 admissions per 1000 patients per month; -1.17 to -0.09. ES: -0.24). However, this result did not withstand a robustness check; the estimate may have absorbed some differences in underlying practice trends. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention does not meet its primary aim, and the clinical significance and cost-effectiveness of these small practice-level effects is debatable. There is an ongoing need to develop effective ways to reduce unnecessary attendances in secondary care for the high-risk population.
Date Issued
2016-04-15
Date Acceptance
2016-02-09
Citation
BMJ Open, 2016, 6 (4)
ISSN
2044-6055
Publisher
BMJ Journals
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Open
Volume
6
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which
permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for
commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which
permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for
commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License URL
Identifier
PII: bmjopen-2015-010468
Subjects
case management
difference-in-differences
integrated care
multidisciplinary team
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Case Management
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Female
Hospitalization
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
National Health Programs
Patient Care Team
Patient Satisfaction
United Kingdom
Young Adult
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e010468