SIREN researchers provide recommendations for evaluation of CMMI’s Accountable Health Communities (AHC) initiative

The evaluation of CMMI’s Accountable Health Communities – a demonstration project that will test the impact of addressing patient’s social needs on health, utilization and cost outcomes – provides an important opportunity to answer critical questions about the effectiveness of medical and social service integration. In an article published online on November 14, 2016, several SIREN researchers highlighted ways to maximize the impact of the project’s evaluation. Their recommendations included extending the evaluation timeframe beyond 5 years to more fully capture program impacts, and examining intermediate outcomes – including biomarkers -- to both understand pathways and obtain early indications of impacts. The authors also highlighted the importance of examining provider satisfaction, burnout and turnover, as provider impacts could be an additional source of health system cost savings from these kinds of interventions. More details are available here.