THRIVE+ Pharmacy Liaison-Patient Navigation Intervention

Summary

This is a pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial (n=364) to compare two screening and referral program models to address health-related social needs (HRSN) among the intermediate risk population of Boston Accountable Care Organization (BACO), a Medicaid ACO. The first study arm is THRIVE-Basic, the low-touch usual care model already implemented in all primary care clinics at Boston Medical Center (BMC) where patients are screened for HRSN and receive a printed paper resource referral guide. The second study arm is THRIVE+, which enhances the THRIVE-Basic model by engaging a pharmacy liaison-patient navigator to provide targeted navigation services and motivational interviewing to ensure connection to hospital- and community-based resources. The patient navigators will also interface directly with a partner community organization, Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), to further help connect patients receiving THRIVE+ to community resources for HRSN. All patients in our study will receive pharmacy services via an existing Pharmacy Care Program. Patients in study arm 1 will be connected to a pharmacy liaison, which is standard clinical practice for intermediate risk ACO members in the BMC General Internal Medicine clinics. Patients in study arm 2 will receive systematic screening for and addressing of HRSN (THRIVE+) via a pharmacy liaison-patient navigator (a pharmacy technician trained as a patient navigator to deploy both pharmacy services and the THRIVE+ intervention), thereby avoiding duplication of services and multiple touches. Assignment to the study arms will be linked to existing Pharmacy Care Program enrollment activities and will be based on medical record number. The investigators' rationale for the study is that if patients' HRSN are addressed, patients will be better positioned to manage chronic conditions, adhere to preventive care plans, and less likely to use the emergency department (a conduit to inpatient care) for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions. The effectiveness of these two models will be compared with respect to alleviating HRSN and reducing acute health care utilization over a 12-month follow-up period.

Conditions

• Healthcare Utilization

Interventions

OTHER

THRIVE screening and referral

The THRIVE screening tool includes questions to identify eight potentially unmet health-related social needs associated with health outcomes and healthcare utilization: housing and food insecurity, inability to afford medications, need for transportation, trouble paying for heat and electricity, need for employment or education, and difficulty taking care of children or other family members. The survey is written at a 3rd grade reading level, is available in multiple languages, and requires less than five minutes to complete. The paper screener consists of two parts: part one screens patients for health-related social needs in the eight domains. Part two asks patients to indicate the resources they want help accessing across the eight domains. Patients who request resources in one or more domains receive paper guides that describe available hospital and community resources to address the specific domain(s) indicated.

OTHER

Pharmacy Care Program services

Pharmacy services provided by a pharmacy liaison include assessing gaps in obtaining refills, identifying barriers to medication adherence, reviewing the patient's engagement in medical care, and developing an action plan with the patient. Action plans focus on strategies to increase medication adherence and engagement in care. The pharmacy liaison will also link the patient to a clinical pharmacist, when appropriate, and will assist the patient with prescription management. After the initial intake is completed, the pharmacy liaison will call patients monthly (or meet with them prior to or following scheduled appointments) over a twelve-month period to confirm medication adherence and address any new barriers to medication adherence and engagement in medical care. The pharmacy liaison in the control arm does not systematically initiate screening for health-related social needs.

OTHER

Patient Navigation Services

In traditional patient navigation programs, a lay person from the community guides individuals through the healthcare system to receive appropriate services. For the present study, the research team will train pharmacy liaisons (pharmacy technicians or pharmacy interns with at least a high school degree and four years of pharmacy experience) to provide patient navigation services, in addition to providing medication adherence support and assistance resolving barriers to accessing medication. In an effort to avoid duplication of services the patient navigation intervention will be delivered via a pharmacy liaison trained in patient navigation, thereby decreasing multiple intervention providers and increasing the potential for sustainability should the intervention prove effective.

OTHER

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a counseling method that encourages patient-centered discussions. Motivational interviewing will be delivered by the intervention arm pharmacy liaison-patient navigators to identify the patient's unmet needs and encourage the patient to adopt behavior change that will promote engagement with resources and services to mitigate or alleviate HRSN.

OTHER

Linkage to Community Partner Organization

The pharmacy liaison-patient navigator will partner with a community organization, Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD). ABCD will help connect patients receiving THRIVE+ to community resources including childcare, food, heating, and housing. The pharmacy liaison-patient navigator will interface directly with ABCD to coordinate receipt of resources for their patients.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Massachusetts Health Policy Commission

  collaborator OTHER

• John Hancock Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Boston Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Karen Lasser, MD MPH · Boston Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

64 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-05-28

Primary Completion

2021-03-05

Completion

2021-03-05

Countries

• United States

Study Locations