An article published March 14, 2023, in Psychiatric Services (PS) highlighted an analysis completed by University Behavioral Associates (UBA) at Montefiore. UBA is a care management provider supported by the Bronx Accountable Health Network (BAHN) Health Home.
New York State Implemented the Health Home Care Management program in 2012 under the Affordable Care Act. The intention of the program was to provide care management services to the highest risk and need New Yorkers. The goals were identified to decrease emergency room utilization and unnecessary in-patient stays for members while addressing social care needs in a community setting.
The authors used data from the Medicaid Data Warehouse to examine health care utilization over 3 years among 10,193 individuals who enrolled in a New York State health home and had at least one outpatient mental health visit during the year prior to enrollment. The analysis looked at Medicaid Data Warehouse data on utilization pre and post Health Home Care Management enrollment. Results for post enrollment year 2 indicated a 43% decrease in inpatient mental health discharges, a 38% decrease in substance use discharges, and a 7% reduction in general medical discharges, whereas mental health outpatient treatment and behavioral and nonbehavioral medication utilization increased. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of health home care management for individuals with serious mental illness.
Conclusion:
While this study was able to demonstrate a strong correlation between Health Home Care Management interventions and reduced substance use and mental health inpatient utilization and increased engagement in mental health outpatient care and behavioral and nonbehavioral
medication utilization over the 3-year study period further research and studies are needed to determine how the health home model affects patient outcomes.
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