Referral, enrollment, and health care use in a comprehensive patient-centered management program for osteoarthritis of the hip and knee

Objective

Osteoarthritis management programs (OAMPs) have become a more common way to deliver patient-centered care. However, there is limited information on real-world use of these programs to guide implementation, payment policy, accessibility, and scaling in the United States. This paper describes 5-year use metrics for the Duke Joint Health Program, an OAMP embedded within a US academic health system.

Method

This analysis includes patients referred into the Program between October 2017 and April 2022. We generated descriptive statistics of referral and enrollment totals, demographics and patient-reported measures of enrollees, retention and healthcare use metrics (e.g., office visit frequency), and data capture rates for patient-reported outcomes.

Results

During the study period, 6863 patients were referred to the program and 4162 (61 ​%) enrolled. We observed statistically significant differences between those who did and did not enroll by age (mean difference ​± ​SE: 2.49 ​± ​2.8 years), sex (70.0 ​% vs 67.7 ​% female), race (65.1 ​% vs 55.3 ​% Caucasian/White), employment status (50.0 ​% vs 40.2 ​% retired), and insurance type (53.5 ​% vs 47.0 ​% Medicare). The median (Q1, Q3) number of visits was 2 (1, 4) and ranged from 1 to 67. The median (Q1, Q3) number of days from first to last program visit was 23 (0, 84) days. Questionnaire completion rates were 72 ​% at baseline, 46 ​% at 6 weeks, 39 ​% at 3 months, and 40 ​% at 6 and 12 months.

Conclusion

Findings can guide the planning, development, and implementation of future OAMPs and inform policies to ensure programs are accessible and equitable.