Effectiveness of an Integrated Ambulatory Care Program in Health Care and Medication Use in Patients with Multimorbidity and Polypharmacy

Background and Objectives: Multimorbidity increases risks, such as polypharmacy, inappropriate prescription, and functional decline. It also increases medical care utilization by older adults, placing a burden on health care systems. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an integrated ambulatory care program for health care and medication use in patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. Methods: We conducted a retrospective clinical review of adults with multimorbidity and polypharmacy who attended an integrated ambulatory care program at a 1193-bed university hospital between July 1 and September 30, 2019. This program involves multidisciplinary teamwork, comprehensive assessments, medication reviews, and case management. Outcomes, including the frequency of outpatient visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, chronic prescription medications, potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), health care costs, and total medical expenditure, were compared before and after the program. Results: The mean age of participants (n = 134) at baseline was 74.22 ± 9.75 years. The mean number of chronic diagnoses was 9.45 ± 3.38. Participants included 72 (53.7%) women. At the 1-year follow-up, participants showed a significant decrease in the annual frequency of outpatient visits (19.78 ± 9.98 to 13.90 ± 10.22, P <.001), emergency department visits (1.04 ± 1.70 to 0.73 ± 1.40, P =.029), and chronic disease medications (10.71 ± 3.96 to 9.57 ± 3.67, P <.001) across all age groups. There was also a reduction in the annual number of PIMs (from 1.31 ± 1.01 to 1.12 ± 0.93, P =.002) among patients aged 65 years. However, no effects were observed on annual hospitalization, duration of hospital stay, or total health care expenditure, possibly due to the high disease-related treatment cost for certain participants. Conclusions: Expanding integrated ambulatory care programs in Taiwan may help patients with multimorbidity reduce their use of outpatient and emergency services, chronic prescriptions, and PIMs.