A framework for conducting a cost analysis of a community health worker program in Vermont

As the practice of integrating CHWs into healthcare teams increases, so does the need to understand the associated costs of implementing CHW programs over time. The Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention undertook a cost analysis of the Community Connections Team (CCT), a program staffed by community health workers in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Housed at the Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, CCT members connect program participants to community resources or social services, such as housing, food, and access to care, with the overarching aim of improving outcomes such as risk behavior reductions, blood pressure control, and quality of life of program participants.

CDC staff collaborated with the Vermont CCT staff to develop a framework for analyzing the program costs. The discussion on the framework will focus on identified cost categories, such as fixed and variable costs, which were drawn from a review of the literature and features of the CCT program as implemented; methods of identifying or estimating these costs; and strengths and limitations of this framework. Specifically, this presentation will describe the development of the framework, present how the framework was utilized to conduct the cost analysis, and illustrate how the framework can be used to conduct cost analyses of community health worker programs.