Investigating the association of integrated care on healthcare costs: evidence from a large retrospective cohort study in the Netherlands

Introduction: In the Netherlands, bundled payments were introduced gradually after 2010 to stimulate the integration of primary care services for different chronic conditions including diabetes, vascular risk management, COPD, depression, asthma, as well as for the elderly. The expectation for this reform was that integrated care could control healthcare expenditure by improving efficiency in primary care and promoting prevention. However, little is known whether this expectation is fulfilled. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between integrated care and healthcare costs... Mehr ...