The Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania has reportedly reduced hospital admissions by 20 percent and saved 7 percent in total medical costs by providing a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model of care, according to first-year results from pilot test sites.
The findings, published in the September/October issue of (ITALICS) Health Affairs, (END ITALICS) provide the first evidence that the PCMH model can improve quality of care and reduce healthcare costs, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The article also describes Geisinger Health System's efforts to redesign its care delivery infrastructure and create incentives aligned to enhanced healthcare value.
"This is the direction in which we need to move our fragmented, broken healthcare system," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis, who co-authored the article and is a board member of the Geisinger Health System.
"These findings point to the potential for innovative and integrated delivery systems to improve healthcare quality," added Glenn Steele, MD, CEO of the Geisinger Health System. "When hospitals, specialists and primary care practices work together, with the support of quality improvement and innovation units and information technology systems, they gain the efficiencies and focus needed to deliver high quality care."
The authors point to lessons from the Geisinger project that can inform national policies aimed at improving value in health care, including:
- By offering new payment schemes and incentives, such as acute episode global fees and payments for patient-centered medical homes, commercial insurers, Medicaid and Medicare could encourage a broader array of providers to implement these improvements.
- Electronic health records are necessary but not sufficient to improve healthcare delivery and value; healthcare delivery systems need to be organized in ways that can take full advantage of the benefits of EHRs.
- Collaboration by public and private payers to align incentives which improve healthcare can help replicate these successes.
For best practices and care models to succeed, Geisinger officials say health policies need to align payment incentives, practices should encourage greater organization of care delivery, and adoption of modern information technology should be encouraged.
What can the PCMH model do for your practice? Do you believe this is an effective method? Send your thoughts to Associate Editor Chelsey Ledue at chelsey.ledue@medtechpublishing.com.