Economic Evaluation of an Integrated Care Program Compared to Conventional Care for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease in Rural Communities of Thailand.

Introduction: An integrated care program for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Thailand has shown its effectiveness in delaying the decline in kidney function, as evidenced by the Effectiveness of Integrated Care on Delaying Progression of Stages 3 to 4 CKD in Rural Communities of Thailand (ESCORT-1) randomized control trial and the ESCORT-2 prospective cohort study. Designed for sustainability within the primary healthcare system, the program optimizes the use of the existing workforce by fostering collaboration among local multidisciplinary care teams (MDCTs) and community care networks (CCNs).

Methods: A Markov model with a lifetime horizon was used to conduct a cost-utility analysis from a societal perspective.

Effectiveness of Integrated Care on Delaying Progression of stage 3-4 Chronic Kidney Disease in Rural Communities of Thailand (ESCORT study): a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: In developing countries, renal specialists are scarce and physician-to-patient contact time is limited. While conventional hospital-based, physician-oriented approach has been the main focus of chronic kidney disease (CKD) care, a comprehensive multidisciplinary health care program (Integrated CKD Care) has been introduced as an alternate intervention to delay CKD progression in a community population. The main objective is to assess effectiveness of Integrated CKD Care in delaying CKD progression.