Assessing the Impact of Long-Acting Injectables (LAIs) on Psychiatric Treatment Outcomes Among Medicaid Recipients (C2566)

People with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, face many challenges related to accessing community mental health services and adherence to medication regimen. For individuals with schizophrenia, these challenges may be compounded because of their specific mental health symptoms, which may hinder cognitive ability including memory deficits. These cognitive challenges may, in particular, affect their ability to comply with oral antipsychotic medication regimen. However, the advent of Long]Acting Injectable (LAIs) antipsychotic is a promising approach to increase compliance with medication therapy. Yet, little is known as to the impact of LAIs on symptom remission and access to mental health treatment among Kentucky Medicaid recipients with Schizophrenia. The purposes of this study overall study is to examine retrospective and prospective data to understand the impact of the use of LAIs among people living with schizophrenia who are Medicaid recipients. To do this, we will: 1) Examine retrospective Kentucky Medicaid data to: a. Assess the frequency of LAI use and b. Examine the comparative effectiveness of LAIs to oral antipsychotics in specific indicators of recovery (e.g., increased mental health resource utilization, costs of services) 2) Examine prospective data among patients receiving LAIs during admission as compared to oral antipsychotics on engagement in community mental health services after discharge. The findings of this study will be important for healthcare providers, policy makers, and managed care organizations in guiding decisions for the use of LAIs and other oral antipsychotics for treatment of people living with schizophrenia