CMS: Medicare chronic care model saves $10 million in second performance year

The Medicare Independence at Home Demonstration saved more than $10 million, or an average $1,010 per beneficiary, in its second performance year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday. The demonstration, which began in 2012 and was extended through September 2017 by Congress last year, is testing whether primary care services delivered at home by multidisciplinary teams improve care and reduce costs for beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions. CMS will award $5.7 million in incentive payments to seven practices that reduced Medicare expenditures and met quality goals in the second performance year. All 15 participating practices improved from the first performance year on at least two of the six quality measures, and four met all six of the quality goals. On average, the 10,484 participating beneficiaries have follow-up contact from their provider within 48 hours of a hospital admission, discharge or emergency visit, and have their medication identified by their provider within 48 hours of discharge. They also have fewer hospital readmissions within 30 days, and use inpatient and emergency department services less for conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, pneumonia and urinary tract infections, CMS said. For more on the demonstration, visit http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Independence-at-Home.