AcademyHealth ARM 2019 – A Discussion on High-Cost High-Need Patients

Brian W. Powers, MD MBA

Resident in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

PGY-2

June 4, 2019

This past weekend I had the pleasure of presenting research at AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting (ARM) in DC. I delivered a talk titled “Complex Care Management for
High-Need, High-Cost Medicaid Patients” which described the design, implementation, and results of a community health worker-led care management program on health care spending and utilization among high-risk Medicaid patients with complex medical and social needs. The program was conducted at CareMore Health in Memphis, TN. We found that the program, which was implemented as a randomized controlled quality improvement trial, significantly reduced total medical spending and inpatient utilization.

My talk was part of a panel/series of presentations on “Care Delivery Innovations for High Cost, High Need Populations,” which was moderated by Laura Hardin from the Camden Coalition and featured presentations from investigators and innovators at:

- Johns Hopkins University

- Clemson University

- Providence VAMC

My co-panelists were inspiring and presented fascinating research that expanded my thinking on complex care management and care models for high-need, high-cost patients. One particularly interesting theme across all of our presentations was that none of the programs discussed, despite having positive impacts on hospital use and medical spending, had an impact on emergency department use. While we did not have a definitive sense of why this may be the case, the observation spurred spirited dialogue.

For trainees interested in health services research, health policy, or health care delivery, the AcademyHealth ARM is a fabulous conference. The talks and posters cover such wide-ranging topics that there is sure to be something for everyone, regardless of interests. Although the scope of the conference can be overwhelming, I have found attendees to be welcoming and engaging. There is always a strong contingent from various Partner’s institutions—this year I ran into a few of my co-residents at Brigham.

I’d encourage everyone to submit an abstract, as there are a wide variety of opportunities for both poster and podium presentations.