Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27872113›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2016

Does integrated care reduce hospital activity for patients with chronic diseases? An umbrella review of systematic reviews.

Sarah Damery, Sarah Flanagan, Gill Combes

Registry-linked trialAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07587073 (A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Evaluation of Enhanced Care Management With Community Supports, Transitional Care, and Residential Care Coordination for High-Risk Medi-Cal Members Under CalAIM in California), which is not on this map. Cited by 89 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
89citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07587073 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Evaluation of Enhanced Care Management With Community Supports, Transitional Care, and Residential Care Coordination for High-Risk Medi-Cal Members Under CalAIM in California

TypeinterventionalSponsorStratiHealthRan2026 to 2028Enrolled1,200ConditionsComplex Care, Post-Acute Care Utilization, Housing Instability, Residential Care TransitionArmsComprehensive CalAIM Care Bundle, Usual CalAIM Service Delivery
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

89 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Person-centred integrated care for people living with Parkinson's, Huntington's and Multiple Sclerosis: A systematic review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024
    Pooled it
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  4. [Cost-Effectiveness of Case and Care Management in Older Populations in Germany: a Systematic Literature Review].Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband der Arzte des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)) · 2023
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
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  8. Cost and effects of integrated care: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2020
    Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
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  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Co-Designing Local Collaboration Between Social Services, Primary Healthcare, and the Third Sector-A Realist Process Evaluation.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Sarah DameryInstitute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK.
Sarah FlanaganInstitute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK.
Gill CombesInstitute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK.

Funding

Department of Health WMCLAHRC-2014-1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo summarise the evidence regarding the effectiveness of integrated care interventions in reducing hospital activity.

designUmbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

settingInterventions must have delivered care crossing the boundary between at least two health and/or social care settings.

participantsAdult patients with one or more chronic diseases. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, Embase, ASSIA, PsycINFO, HMIC, CINAHL, Cochrane Library (HTA database, DARE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews), EPPI-Centre, TRIP, HEED, manual screening of references. OUTCOME MEASURES: Any measure of hospital admission or readmission, length of stay (LoS), accident and emergency use, healthcare costs.

results50 reviews were included. Interventions focused on case management (n=8), chronic care model (CCM) (n=9), discharge management (n=15), complex interventions (n=3), multidisciplinary teams (MDT) (n=10) and self-management (n=5). 29 reviews reported statistically significant improvements in at least one outcome. 11/21 reviews reported significantly reduced emergency admissions (15-50%); 11/24 showed significant reductions in all-cause (10-30%) or condition-specific (15-50%) readmissions; 9/16 reported LoS reductions of 1-7 days and 4/9 showed significantly lower A&E use (30-40%). 10/25 reviews reported significant cost reductions but provided little robust evidence. Effective interventions included discharge management with postdischarge support, MDT care with teams that include condition-specific expertise, specialist nurses and/or pharmacists and self-management as an adjunct to broader interventions. Interventions were most effective when targeting single conditions such as heart failure, and when care was provided in patients' homes.

conclusionsAlthough all outcomes showed some significant reductions, and a number of potentially effective interventions were found, interventions rarely demonstrated unequivocally positive effects. Despite the centrality of integrated care to current policy, questions remain about whether the magnitude of potentially achievable gains is enough to satisfy national targets for reductions in hospital activity. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42015016458.

Indexed as

Case ManagementChronic DiseaseCost-Benefit AnalysisDelivery of Health Care, IntegratedHospitalizationHumansMeta-Analysis as TopicQuality of LifeSystematic Reviews as Topicchronic diseasehospital activityintegrated careresource usereview of reviewsumbrella review

Identifiers

PMID27872113
PMCPMC5129137

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.