M6
Slide 11
CONTENT
The Economic Case for Integrated Care
Beyond ethical and public health arguments, integrated care is increasingly supported by economic evidence.
Fragmented systems generate high costs through:
Repeated emergency department visits
Avoidable hospitalisations
Extended inpatient stays
Crisis-driven interventions
Administrative duplication
Research from multiple contexts shows that coordinated care models — particularly when combined with housing stability — can:
Reduce emergency service utilisation
Shorten hospital stays
Improve treatment adherence
Lower long-term public expenditure
Housing First models, for example, have demonstrated that providing stable housing with coordinated support can offset costs associated with emergency care and institutionalisation.
Integrated care is therefore not only a social investment.
It is also a cost-containment strategy.
However, economic savings often occur across sectors.
Health systems may save costs, while housing systems bear expenses — or vice versa.
Without cross-sector financing alignment, economic incentives may remain misaligned.
This misalignment can slow implementation.