health team
Innovative Home Visit Models Associated With Reductions In Costs, Hospitalizations, And Emergency Department Use
Health Aff (Millwood). 2017 Mar 1;36(3):425-432. [Pubmed Abstract]
Ruiz S, Snyder LP, Rotondo C, Cross-Barnet C, Colligan EM, Giuriceo K
Abstract
While studies of home-based care delivered by teams led by primary care providers have shown cost savings, little is known about outcomes when practice-extender teams-that is, teams led by registered nurses or lay health workers-provide home visits with similar components (for example, care coordination and education). We evaluated findings from five models funded by Health Care Innovation Awards of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Each model used a mix of different components to strengthen connections to primary care among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions; these connections included practice-extender home visits. Two models achieved significant reductions in Medicare expenditures, and three models reduced utilization in the form of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or…
Documenting CHW Roles in Primary Care: Contributions to Evidence-Based Integration Into Health Care Teams, 2015
J Ambul Care Manage. 2017 Oct/Dec;40(4):305-315. [Pubmed Abstract]
Reinschmidt KM, Ingram M, Morales S, Sabo SJ, Blackburn J, Murrieta L, David C, Carvajal SC
Abstract
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provided community health workers (CHWs) with new opportunities, and current efforts develop evidence-based guidelines for CHW integration into clinical teams. This qualitative study documents CHW roles and activities in 3 federally qualified health care centers in southern Arizona. Community health worker clinical roles, activities, and integration varied by health center and were in flux. Integration included complementary roles, scheduled and everyday communications with team members, and documentation in the electronic health records. These findings contribute to evidence-based guidelines for CHW integration into clinical teams that are critical to maximizing CHW contributions to patient health improvements.
Strategies to Improve the Integration of CHWs Into Health Care Teams
Prev Chronic Dis. 2015 Sep 17;12:E154. [Pubmed Abstract]
Strategies to Improve the Integration of Community Health Workers Into Health Care Teams: “A Little Fish in a Big Pond”
Allen CG, Escoffery C, Satsangi A, Brownstein JN
Introduction
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act acknowledges the value of community health workers (CHWs) as frontline public health workers. Consequently, growing attention has been placed on promoting CHWs as legitimate partners to provide support to health care teams and patients in the prevention, management, and control of chronic disease, particularly among diverse populations and high-need individuals.
Methods
Using a mixed-methods research approach, we investigated the integration of CHWs into health care teams from the CHW perspective. We conducted a survey of 265 CHWs and interviews with 23 CHWs to better understand and describe their experience and their perceived opportunities and challenges regarding their integration within…
