Participant Satisfaction and Perceptions About Program Impact in the Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Disease Pilot Program.

PURPOSE

Evaluate the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases (MIPCD) program in terms of participant satisfaction and self-reported program impact.

DESIGN

Participant survey (mail/telephone follow-up), English and Spanish (N = 2274).

SETTINGS

Ten states in MIPCD program.

PARTICIPANTS

Medicaid beneficiaries.

INTERVENTION

Incentive-based health promotion programs targeting diabetes prevention and management, smoking cessation, and weight, hypertension, and cholesterol management.

MEASURES

Dependent measures are (1) overall program satisfaction and (2) self-reported program impact, operationalized as whether program helped with understanding health issues, learning ways to take care of health, and encouraging healthy lifestyle changes.

ANALYSIS

Multilevel multivariable ordinal logistic regression models to identify predictors of overall program satisfaction and program impact.

RESULTS

Sixty-seven percent were very satisfied with the program, and 76% strongly agreed the program encouraged healthy lifestyle changes. Age (59+ vs <45 years) and being female predicted overall program satisfaction. Satisfaction with specific aspects of the program including communication with staff, accessibility, and incentives predicted higher overall satisfaction. Age (45-52 vs <45 years) and being black or Hispanic predicted higher program impact. Points redeemable for rewards performed worse than money-valued incentives in terms of encouraging lifestyle changes (odds ratio [OR], 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11-0.82). Participants receiving incentives valued at $25 to <$100 were more likely to report higher agreement that the program helped them learn ways to care for their health (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.21-2.44) and encouraged lifestyle changes (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.02-2.10), compared to participants receiving incentives valued at $0 to <$25. Incentives valued at $100 to <$400 predicted higher agreement that the program helped with understanding of health issues (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.13-2.33), compared to incentives valued at $0 to <$25.

CONCLUSION

Effective chronic disease prevention programs are needed for Medicaid populations. Study findings highlight important considerations for incentive-based programs.