Impact of supportive housing health homes program on Medicaid utilization for persons diagnosed with HIV (PDWH)

Unstable housing among persons diagnosed with HIV (PDWH) has been consistently linked to poor HIV-related care engagement. We examined the relationship between enrollment in a supportive housing program and health care utilization (use of outpatient services, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations) for a group of unstably housed, Medicaid and Health Homes (HH)-enrolled PDWH in New York State. We analyzed monthly longitudinal data consisting of linked supportive housing data, HH data, and Medicaid claims from New York State (excluding New York City) between 2012 and 2017 using time series models. Participants who had at least six consecutive months of supportive housing at month t had 20% higher odds of using an outpatient service, 19% lower odds of visiting the ED, and 24% lower odds of being hospitalized compared to those with less than six consecutive months of supportive housing after adjusting for covariates. Supportive housing may promote better medical management by increasing outpatient visits among chronically homeless PDWH.