Assessing health status differences between Veterans Affairs home-based primary care and state Medicaid Waiver Program clients.

OBJECTIVES: Comprehensive health care for older adults is complex, involving multiple comorbidities and functional impairments of varying degrees and numbers. In response to this complexity and associated barriers to care, home-based care models have become prevalent. The home-based primary care (HBPC) model, based at a Michigan Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Michigan Waiver Program (MWP) that includes home-based care are 2 of these. Although both models are formatted to address barriers to effective and efficient health care, there are differences in disease prevalence and functional performance between groups. The objective of this study was to explore the differences between the 2 groups, to shed some light on potential trends that could suggest areas for resource allocation by service providers.

DESIGN: Using a retrospective analysis of data collected using the interRAI-home care, we examined a cross-sectional representation of clients enrolled in HBPC and MWP in 2008.

PARTICIPANTS: The HBPC sample had 89 participants. The MWP database contained 9324 participants from across the State of Michigan and were weighted to be comparable to the HBPC population in sex and age, and to simulate the HBPC sample size.

RESULTS: Veterans were more independent in basic activities of daily living performance, but there was no difference in the rate of reported falls between the 2 groups. Veterans had more pain and a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease (z = 7.0; P < .001), Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (z = 3.9; P < .001), and cancer (z = 8.5; P < .001). There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of the prevalence of geriatric syndromes. Scores on subscales of the interRAI-home care indicated a lower risk of serious health decline and adverse outcomes for MWP compared with HBPC clients (1.4 ± 1.1 vs 0.9 ± 0.1; z = 2.5; P = .012). Veterans receiving home-based care through the Veterans Affairs Medical Center were more burdened by chronic disease and had higher degrees of loneliness than their MWP counterparts- factors, which may increase their likelihood of hospitalizations. MWP participants had more cases of cerebrovascular accident (z = 2.1; P = .039), as well as a higher rate of diagnosed dementias (z = 2.7; P = .006). Though not different, stress among caregivers in both groups, and depression in clients of both groups were substantial. Overall, sleep, pain, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer are significant issues for Veteran clients, and clients treated through MWP home-care in Michigan have higher than national average rates of dementias, diabetes, hypertension, and coronary artery disease.

CONCLUSION: With expanded home care models of service on the horizon, comparisons such as the one presented here could identify more efficient and effective service, with potential for improved client health outcomes.