UC Berkeley School of Public Health faculty Hector Rodriguez and others recently published a paper on patient-engagement strategies in Health Affairs Scholar. Patient-engagement strategies are being encouraged by payers and governments, but with limited evidence about whether practice adoption of these strategies impacts utilization and spending. We examine the association of physician practice adoption of patient-engagement strategies (low vs moderate vs high) with potentially preventable utilization and total spending for patients with type 2 diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease using US physician practice survey and Medicare fee-for-service. The results highlight that stakeholders that encourage the use of patient-engagement strategies should not necessarily expect reduced spending.
August 14, 2023