CMS: Medicare chronic care model saves $25 million in first performance year

The Medicare Independence at Home Demonstration saved more than $25 million, or an average $3,070 per beneficiary, in its first performance year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday. The three-year demonstration 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 $11.7 million in incentive payments to nine practices that reduced Medicare expenditures and met quality goals in the first performance year. All 17 participating practices improved on at least three of the six quality measures for the first performance year, and four met all six of the quality goals. The more than 8,400 participating beneficiaries are averaging fewer hospital readmissions within 30 days and using 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.