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. 2020 Feb;39(2):207-213.
doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00981.

Evidence-Based Community Health Worker Program Addresses Unmet Social Needs And Generates Positive Return On Investment

Shreya Kangovi  1 , Nandita Mitra  2 , David Grande  3 , Judith A Long  4 , David A Asch  5
Affiliations

Evidence-Based Community Health Worker Program Addresses Unmet Social Needs And Generates Positive Return On Investment

Shreya Kangovi et al. Health Aff (Millwood). 2020 Feb.

Abstract

Interventions that address socioeconomic determinants of health are receiving considerable attention from policy makers and health care executives. The interest is fueled in part by expected returns on investment. However, many current estimates of returns on investment are likely overestimated, because they are based on pre-post study designs that are susceptible to regression to the mean. We present a return-on-investment analysis that is based on a randomized controlled trial of Individualized Management for Patient-Centered Targets (IMPaCT), a standardized community health worker intervention that addresses unmet social needs for disadvantaged people. We found that every dollar invested in the intervention would return $2.47 to an average Medicaid payer within the fiscal year.

Keywords: Clinical trials; Community health workers; Controlled trials; Cost savings; Costs and spending; Health policy; Medicaid; Medicaid patients; Public Health; Return on investment; Social Determinants of Health; Systems of care.

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Comment in

  • Community Health Workers And COVID-19.
    Hansmann KJ, Kind AJH. Hansmann KJ, et al. Health Aff (Millwood). 2020 Jun;39(6):1097. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00554. Health Aff (Millwood). 2020. PMID: 32479233 No abstract available.

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