Dayton-Cincinnati Area To Be Medicare Test Ground
By Ben Sutherly, Dayton Daily News, Ohio |
The project is part of a broader effort by the federal government to carve billions of dollars in costs out of the
The cost of the project -- called the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative -- wasn't immediately available Tuesday. Modeled after private-sector approaches, it's part of the federal health care overhaul and will transform how 75 of the region's primary care practices are paid to care for patients. The project's geographic reach will extend north to
Participating practices will initially be paid an average of
Later, those practices will have the chance to share in a portion of any
"This is probably the biggest change in the delivery of primary care since primary care was defined as a specialty," said
"Prior to now, the practices managed the patient that presented at their door or called the office for a visit," Steffens said. "In this (new) system, the practice reaches out to their patient community and manages everybody, whether they contact the office or not. It's a very different way of looking at care."
Through electronic health records, primary care practices taking part in the pilot program will focus not just on treating patients when they are ill, but will focus more on keeping them healthy, manage chronic health conditions such as diabetes, and head off the need for more expensive surgeries and other procedures. The practices also will work to intensively manage care for high-need patients, ensure access to care beyond regular business hours, provide more preventive care, and encourage patients to be more engaged in their care.
As of
Practices that make "meaningful use" of electronic health records -- and that have a majority of patients covered by health plans willing to pay enhanced reimbursements -- will likely have a leg up in vying to become one of the region's 75 pilot practices in the
Other regions taking part in the program are the
___
(c)2012 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Source: | McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Wordcount: | 691 |
Erie Insurance Cites Challenges, Growth At Annual Shareholders’ Meeting
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Property and Casualty News