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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Kathryn N. Keller, MPA, Program, The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, 3805 Edwards Road, Suite 500, Cincinnati, OH 45209, 513-458-6616, kkeller@healthfoundation.org, Jeff J. Guo, PhD, College of Pharmacy, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, 3225 Eden Avenue, 133C Health Professions Building, Cincinnati, OH 45267, and Terrance J. Wade, PhD, Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, Academic South 319, St. Catherines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada.

As part of its SBHC Initiative, the Foundation funded two multi-year studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the model. For the first study, the SBHC Health Outcomes Study, we conducted a 3-year longitudinal process and outcome evaluation of eight SBHCs. Four comparison schools were matched on student characteristics and proportion of students receiving free and reduced lunch. The objective of the second study, the SBHC Cost Study, was to evaluate health care utilization and costs of students in SBHC programs. Using a retrospective quasi-experimental time-series analysis, four SBHCs and two comparison school districts were studied. Repeated-measure analyses were conducted to assess the changes of student's health care utilization and costs in hospitalizations, emergency departments, physician encounters, mental health services, dental, prescriptions, well child check-ups, and other outpatient care. Our primary findings from the studies showed that SBHCs: • Improved the health-related quality of life of students who used the SBHC • Did not change the overall Medicaid costs • Decreased primary care costs • Increased mental and dental health costs • Decreased prescription drug costs • Decreased hospitalization and emergency room costs for children with asthma • Closed the healthcare utilization gap for African American students • Reduced Medicaid costs for children in the rural The studies conclude that SBHCs improve the health of students, help keep kids in the classroom, support working parents and do so at no additional cost to the Medicaid system.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the affect SBHCs have on student health status
• To understand who uses and benefits most from having access to an SBHC
• To understand the impact SBHCs have on Medicaid expenses

Keywords: School-Based Health Care,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation