Care Management Program improves care for patients
- Partners' Care Management Demonstration Project has improved care for high-risk patients and reduced costs
- Three Partners hospitals are currently involved with the program, a Medicare demonstration project
- MGH, the first Partners hospital to be involved with the program, saw a 20% drop in readmissions for high-risk patients enrolled
Care Management Program improves care for sickest patients, reduces costs
5/29/2011
High risk patients, those who are chronically ill and often suffer from complex conditions, need more and different care than the average patient. Because of this, high-risk patients, who make up 15% of the patient population, account for 75% of health care spending.
Three Partners HealthCare hospitals are currently involved in a Medicare demonstration project that has shown to improve the quality of care for high-risk patients, and reduce costs associated with their care
The demonstration project’s model of care involves a team of caregivers, managed by the Primary Care Physician. The team can include nurse case managers, social workers, pharmacists, nutritionists, and others, all of whom work together to help manage the patient’s health. Through the team model, patients receive better-coordinated care, which ultimately helps to improve the health of enrolled patients.
The team ensures that when a patient leaves the doctor’s office, he or she receives follow up care. This can mean ensuring that patients are taking the correct medications, making it to their doctors’ appointments, and even that they have access to nutritious food.
Massachusetts General Hospital, the first Partners hospital to take part in the project, saw a seven percent reduction in costs over three years, while admissions were reduced and deaths decreased measurably Hospital readmissions dropped by 20%, and visits to the emergency room were reduced by 13% for patients enrolled in the program.
In 2010, the project expanded to Brigham and Women’s Hospital and North Shore Medical Center. To date, the Care Management Program has enrolled almost 5,000 patients and is expected to involve more than 8,000 total patients over the next few years.
To read more about this program, visit our Innovation and Leadership section.
Read more about Mass General's success with the care management program in this Boston Business Journal article.
