Conceptualizing the effective mechanisms of a social needs case management program shown to reduce hospital use: a qualitative study.

Background: Social needs case management programs are a strategy to coordinate social and medical care for high-risk patients. Despite widespread interest in social needs case management, not all interventions have shown effectiveness. A lack of evidence about the mechanisms through which these complex interventions benefit patients inhibits effective translation to new settings.

Defining case management success: a qualitative study of case manager perspectives from a large-scale health and social needs support program.

Objective: Health systems are expanding efforts to address health and social risks, although the heterogeneity of early evidence indicates need for more nuanced exploration of how such programs work and how to holistically assess program success. This qualitative study aims to identify characteristics of success in a large-scale, health and social needs case management program from the perspective of interdisciplinary case managers.

Setting: Case management program for high-risk, complex patients run by an integrated, county-based public health system.