Costs of Specialist Referrals From Employer-Sponsored Integrated Health Care Clinics Are Lower Than Those From Community Providers

Background There have been very few published studies of referral management among commercially insured populations and none on referral management from employer-sponsored health centers. Objective Describe the referral management system of an integrated employer-sponsored health care system and compare specialist referral rates and costs of specialist visits between those initiated from employer-sponsored health clinics and those initiated from community providers. Design Retrospective, comparative cohort study using multivariate analysis of medical claims comparing care initiated in employer-sponsored health clinics with propensity-matched controls having specialist referrals initiated by community providers. Patients Adult patients (≥ 18 years) eligible for employer-sponsored clinical services incurring medical claims for specialist referrals between 12/1/2018 and 12/31/2020. The study cohort was comprised of 3129 receiving more than 75% of their care in the employer-sponsored clinic matched to a cohort of 3129 patients receiving care in the community. Intervention Specialist referral management program implemented by Crossover Health employer-sponsored clinics. Main Measures Rates and costs of specialist referrals. Key Results The relative rate of specialist referrals was 22% lower among patients receiving care in employers-sponsored health clinics (35.1%) than among patients receiving care in the community (45%, p <0.001). The total per-user per-month cost for patients in the study cohort was $372 (SD $894), compared to $401 (SD $947) for the community cohort, a difference of $29 ( p <0.001) and a relative reduction of 7.2%. The lower costs can be attributed, in part, to lower specialist care costs ($63 (SD $140) vs $76 (SD $213) ( p <0.001). Conclusions Employer-sponsored health clinics can provide effective integrated care and may be able to reduce avoidable specialist utilization. Standardized referral management and care navigation may drive lower specialist spend, when referrals are needed.