WRAP AROUND SERVICES
The provision of health-related wrap around services has always been foundational to the successful implementation of the TIPs program. The overarching goal of the program has been to build a holistic culture of health at Grace West. Wrap around services were co-created with residents to meet their needs and wants. During the pandemic, the wrap around services focused on food security, maintaining telephone contact with residents and ensuring medical needs were met. The positive impact on residents’ lives can be seen in multiple resident anecdotes in the report. FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
Efforts to establish a route to financial sustainability have been difficult to achieve due to the suspension of the program for much of the pandemic period. Much has been learnt about the criteria required for reimbursement. A TIPs at Home Tech Pilot is now proposed for the forthcoming year. This should provide insight into the process of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) billing and reimbursement. ANALYSIS OF HEALTH IMPACTS
In addition to multiple anecdotal reports where TIPs participants reported improvements in health, we also evaluated changes in health care usage, self-reported health, and potential cost-savings stemming from the change in health care usage. For health care usage, there was little evidence of a change in hospital visits, but a considerable decrease in readmissions to the hospital within 30 days. This change persisted over the course of our intervention. For self-reported health, we saw sizable improvements for TIPs participants in their physical and mental health. The emergence of COVID-19 likely had an influence on these outcomes. In terms of cost effectiveness, we calculate that TIPs provided a savings in total health care expenses of $26,388, which amounts to 16 percent of the total costs from delivering TIPs. Since health care usage only reflects one component of health, this estimate likely understates the total benefits; the improvements in self-reported health, COVID vaccine take-up, and other unmeasured outcomes also likely contributed to cost savings.
Executive Summary
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