Medicare Study of the Cooperative Health Education Project

摘要

The Medicare Study of the Cooperative Health Education Project (CHEP) was a randomized, controlled, prospective trial of self-care interventions within the Medicare population of a health maintenance organization, the Rhode Island Group Health Association (RIGHA). The 1,009 eligible Medicare households in RIGHA were randomized to an experimental or a control group. Experimental households received a written communications program consisting of the newsletters, reference books and brochures. In addition, they received four newsletters and two self-care packages aimed at the specific health concerns of older Americans. Utilization data obtained by chart abstract was analyzed for 654 (64.8%) of the randomized households. Findings: Total medical visits declined by 15.2% in the experimental group as compared to the control group after adjustment by convariance for pre-test utilization. This decrease was statistically significant. It is estimated that the decrease in utilization could result in a savings of more than $2.00 for every $1.00 spent on the educational interventions.