A Comparative Analysis: Clinical Outcomes and Cost

Bronx Community Health Network (BCHN) is a nonprofit organization and federally qualified health center that sponsors fifteen community and school-based health centers in the Bronx. Seeking to improve community health care in a cost effective manner, the BCHN implemented a program to divert patients utilizing unnecessary emergency room care to more appropriate treatment settings. The Capstone team evaluated data from two years prior to and two years after program implementation (2008-2009 and 2011- 2012) to determine program efficacy in improving health measures for two selected diagnoses: hypertension and diabetes. The team also looked at the program’s cost effectiveness and return on investment, using results to determine whether the program saved money while improving health of individuals with diabetes and hypertension.