A report from the Urban Institute projects what savings might be available from greater use of intensive care management for persons with serious, multiple chronic diseases.
A final summary of Medicare’s disease management pilots gives a bleak picture of the value of the efforts. While there are design and methodological critiques of the Medicare program that may make the results not generalizable, the outcomes do suggest that if disease management is to show value, design and execution need to be improved.
It stands to reason that a care transition program will improve outcomes in regard to hospitalized stroke and heart attack patients, but an AHRQ research review finds little solid evidence that this is the case for most types of care transition interventions.
Winter nears but our Potpourri will distract you from the cold breezes, providing compelling nuggets on prostate screening recommendations, consumer use of technology for health, insurer medical cost trends, what to do about Medicare’s physician payments, heart failure hospitalization and mortality rates and rates of non-filling of new prescriptions.
The effect of telehealth tools on the health spending of Medicare beneficiaries with chronic disease has been controversial, with a number of studies finding no or very limited savings. New research published in Health Affairs suggests that at least one such tool may contribute to savings in a care management program for common chronic diseases.
A study of the VHA’s care for chronic disease patients finds generally good compliance with treatment recommendations, but not necessarily the best patient outcomes, reflecting the complexity of improving quality.
Another edition of the Potpourri, featuring results on the Guided Care program, bundled payment experience, academic physician compensation, end-of-life care, hospital prices and costs, and geographic variation in Medicare spending.
McKinsey publishes an article on disease management, focusing on overseas experience and finding that properly designed and managed programs can lower costs, improve outcomes and increase patient satisfaction.