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“Patients who received coaching tailored to their individual level of activation showed greater improvement in their biometrics and in their adherence to recommended regimens, and showed greater reductions in hospitalizations and in emergency department use than did patients coached in the usual way.”
Improving the Outcomes of Disease Management by Tailoring Care to the Patient’s Level of Activation, The American Journal of Managed Care, June 2009
Hospitals in more than 20 states are using a Patient Activation Measure® score to strengthen their care transition programs. Findings are consistent – targeting support and better engaging the low activated improves care transitions. In this series of QualityNet presentations, three QIO organizations discuss their use of the PAM, and the value they are finding in targeting resources and tailoring support to levels of activation.
“Patient Activation is really the key to what we are doing. I can’t imagine doing coaching without getting some idea of where the patient is in terms of their level of activation. It really helps us target the intervention.”
Christy Bond
Director, Senior Services
Crouse Hospital, Syracuse NY
In the first six months of the program members who engaged with a health coach reduced their inpatient utilization by 18 percent compared with similar members who did not engage with a coach. Emergency department visits fell by 12 percent in the intervention group. Quality-of-life scores improved for 81 percent of participants. Forty-five percent showed improvement in cholesterol values and 42 percent demonstrated a reduction in body mass index. Two-thirds of the participants, or 66 percent, reported an improvement in their patient activation score.
The members’ health care expenditures dropped by $139 per member per month after six months.
The Commonwealth Fund. Dec/Jan Quality Matters Newsletter Case Study
Early results show that the PAM tool coupled with the coaching intervention has enabled ODS to migrate or shift approximately one-third of the population at the lowest activation levels to levels three or four. In addition, early trends of program participants show a 6 percent increase in levels of medication adherence. Preliminary data also demonstrate a decrease in emergency and urgent care utilization and slight decreases in lengths of stay.
The Commonwealth Fund. Dec/Jan Quality Matters Newsletter
©2012 Insignia Health
