Intensive Management of At-risk Patients

Intensive Management of At-risk Patients: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to assess if intensive management of at-risk participants, utilizing longitudinal patient tracking, proactive outreach, multidisciplinary action planning and careful outcomes monitoring, will lead to better patient outcomes than usual care.

At-risk participants will be randomized 1:1 to either usual care or intensive management utilizing longitudinal patient tracking, proactive outreach, multidisciplinary action planning and careful outcomes monitoring for 6 months. Participants in the intervention group will be assigned to a partnership of one nurse practitioner and one medical assistant who will manage them with the support of the study team. Staff will focus on contacting all patients within one week of any emergency department visit or hospital discharge, contacting all highest-risk participants weekly and all participants monthly, and completing high-priority tasks for participant care within one week. The primary outcomes of this quality improvement study are inpatient bed days and number of inpatient admissions.

Inclusion Criteria: At-risk patients, meaning Gold, Silver, or Bronze tier, as identified by our member 360 platform:

• Gold tier - 6+ emergency department (ED) visits last year, annual spend >$100,000, 8 or more hierarchical condition category (HCC) diagnoses, readmission <30 days prior, or ambulatory care-sensitive condition (ACSC) hospitalization <30 days prior
• Silver tier - 4+ ED visits last year, annual spend >$75,000, 6 or more HCC diagnoses, readmission <90 days prior, substance abuse HCC diagnosis, behavioral health admit <90 days, 15+ chronic medications prescribed in the last 90 days (and not qualifying for Gold tier)
• Bronze tier - 3+ ED visits last year, annual spend >$50,000, 5 or more HCC diagnoses, 3+ hospitalizations last year, end-stage liver disease, end-stage renal disease, Medicare and Medicaid dual-enrolled, disease-management program patients with ACSC admission or ED visit in the last year, 10+ chronic medications in the last 90 days, 6+ health risk-assessment score, 12+ Edmonton Frail Scale score (and not qualifying for Gold or Silver tiers)

Exclusion Criteria:

• enrolled in hospice
• enrolled in Institutional Special Needs Plan
• primary patient of study investigator