Health Economic Impact of a Multicenter Quality-of-Care Initiative for Reducing Unplanned Healthcare Utilization Among Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

INTRODUCTION: A multicenter adult inflammatory bowel disease learning health system (IBD Qorus) implemented clinical care process changes for reducing unplanned emergency department visits and hospitalizations using a Breakthrough Series Collaborative approach. METHODS: Using Markov decision models, we determined the health economic impact of participating in the Collaborative from the third-party payer perspective. RESULTS: Across all 23 sites, participation in the Collaborative was associated with lower annual costs by an average of $2,528 +/- $233 per patient when compared with the baseline period. DISCUSSION: Implementing clinical care process changes using a Collaborative approach was associated with overall cost savings. Future work should examine which specific interventions are most effective and whether such cost savings are sustainable.

Automated summary

The implementation of clinical care process changes using a Collaborative approach has been associated with lower annual costs for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, providing overall cost savings. Further research is needed to determine the most effective interventions and the sustainability of these cost savings.