Abstract:
Introduction: In Oregon, Medicaid benefits are managed by Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) that assist Medicaid members in navigating the healthcare system. A common form of assistance provided by CCOs is a Community Health Worker (CHW) program. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests CHW programs improve appointment-keeping behaviors, patient engagement, patient-provider communication, and health outcomes in a wide variety of clinics. However, this has yet to be examined in an orthopedic setting. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of a CHW program implemented by a CCO at an orthopedic clinic and surgical center. The study aims (1) to determine whether CHW outreach effectively reduced no-show rates among the CCO-member patient population and (2) to better understand the characteristics of CCO-member patients who are more likely to miss appointments as well as the characteristics of appointments that are more likely to be missed by CCO-member patients.