Clinical–Community Linkages: The Impact of Standard Care Processes that Engage Medicaid-Eligible Pregnant Women in Home Visiting

• Published in: Women's health issues 2021-11, Vol.31 (6), p.532-539
• Main Authors: Raffo, Jennifer E., Titcombe, Claire, Henning, Susan, Meghea, Cristian I., Strutz, Kelly L., Roman, Lee Anne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Female; House Calls; Humans; Infant; Medicaid; Postnatal Care; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women; Prenatal Care - methods; United States
• ISSN: 1049-3867; 1878-4321
• DOI: 10.1016/j.whi.2021.06.006

To better address physical, emotional, and social needs of Medicaid-insured pregnant women, a Federally Qualified Health Center and a hospital-based obstetrics and gynecology residency practice collaborated with their agency-based state Medicaid-sponsored home visiting program, the Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP). In partnership, both practice sites created patient standards of care to identify and engage eligible pregnant women into underutilized home visiting services for enhanced prenatal care coordination. The purpose of this study was to describe how each practice operationalized clinical–community linkage strategies that best suited their setting and to determine if efforts resulted in improved MIHP participation and other service use. Using linked administrative data, a quasi-experimental pre–post difference-in-difference design was used to examine changes in MIHP participation, adequate prenatal care, emergency department use, and postpartum care among patients in each practice compared with the same birth cohorts between 2010 and 2015 in the rest of the state. When compared with similar women from the rest of the state, the Federally Qualified Health Center observed a 9.1 absolute percentage points (APP; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8.1–10.1) increase in MIHP participation and 12.5 APP (95% CI, 10.4–14.6) increase in early first trimester enrollment. The obstetrics and gynecology residency practice experienced increases of 4.4 APP (95% CI, 3.3–5.6) in overall MIHP participation and 12.5 APP (95% CI, 10.3–14.7) in first trimester enrollment. Significant improvements in adequate prenatal care, emergency department use, and postpartum visit completion were also observed. Clinical–community linkages can significantly improve participation of Medicaid-insured women in an evidence-based home visiting program and other prenatal services. This work is important because health providers are looking for ways to create clinical–community linkages.