Service Use by Medicaid Recipients With Serious Mental Illness During an RCT of the Bridge Peer Health Navigator Intervention

Psychiatr Serv. 2021 Oct 1;72(10):1145-1150. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201900615. Epub 2021 Apr 23.

Abstract

Objective: Integration of general medical care and mental health care is a high priority for individuals with serious mental illnesses because of their high risk of morbidity and early mortality. The Bridge is a peer-led, health navigator intervention designed to improve access to and use of health care and self-management of medical services by individuals with serious mental illnesses. This study expands on a previous study in which the authors examined participants' self-reported outcomes from a 12-month randomized controlled trial of the Bridge. In the study reported here, Medicaid data were used to assess the impact of the intervention on service use during that trial.

Methods: Medicaid data on use of general medical services (emergency room, outpatient, and inpatient) for 6 months were compared for 144 individuals with serious mental illnesses-Bridge participants (N=72) and a waitlist control group (N=72). An intent-to-treat approach was used, with regression models controlling for general medical services in the 6 months before baseline.

Results: Zero-inflated negative binomial analyses, controlling for service use 6 months before baseline, found that the intervention group used the emergency room significantly less frequently, compared with the control group (adjusted mean±SD number of visits, 0.72±0.19 versus 1.59±0.42). No between-group differences were found in use of general medical inpatient or outpatient services.

Conclusions: The Bridge was effective in decreasing emergency room use among individuals with serious mental illnesses.

Keywords: Community mental health services; Health care service use; Integrated care; Peer delivered; Serious mental illness.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Ambulatory Care
  • Humans
  • Medicaid
  • Mental Disorders* / therapy
  • Self-Management*