Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Patient Care
February 10, 2014 12:00 AM

Reform Update: Post-discharge care plans promote use of primary care

Andis Robeznieks
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Providing a solid base of primary-care service and coordinating specialty care for high-risk patients has been advocated as a method of lowering overall healthcare costs. Doing so would presumably reduce repeat hospitalization and emergency department visits. A new study posted on the JAMA Internal Medicine website suggests that such an approach does, indeed, work.

    Researchers with University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine found that when low-income uninsured or Medicaid beneficiary patients at two Philadelphia hospitals were assisted by community health workers in developing an individual recovery plan, they were more likely to have a primary-care visit within 14 days of discharge and to report high-quality post-discharge communication.

    Recently, research from the CMS Innovation Center received criticism for its lack of scientific rigor, but the University of Pennsylvania study was a randomized trial in which 222 patients received an individualized discharge plan from community health workers between April 10, 2011, and Oct. 30, 2012, and 224 who did not during that period. It also was noted that the patients studied, ages 18 to 64 years old, were from the general patient population while other, similar studies focused on patients with a specific disease so the results were not necessarily applicable to all patients.

    While patients in both groups had similar rates for one 30-day admission, patients who worked with community health workers were less likely to have multiple readmissions.

    The community health workers were described as “trained lay people” paid $14 an hour, who served as liaisons between patients and the inpatient care team, helped schedule follow-up appointments and, in some instances, accompanied patients on the visit.

    In a formal process to develop care plans, the community health workers established a measurable goal, instilled patient confidence in achieving that goal, and developed a step-by-step plan to reach it.

    In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Harrison Alter, an emergency medicine physician with the Alameda Health System in Oakland, Calif., noted that this was an example of using low-cost “upstream” interventions to prevent more expensive treatments downstream.

    “If CHWs helping patients with these basic demands can prevent a cascade of hospital admissions and can improve patients' health and well-being at the same time, we should all start looking up the river,” Alter wrote.

    CMS to receive data for Open Payments program

    The CMS will begin to receive data through its Open Payments program—more commonly known as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act—on Feb. 18, the agency announced in a listserv message to industry stakeholders Friday. The program is meant to build public awareness of financial relationships between drug and device manufacturers, group purchasing organization, and certain healthcare providers.

    Starting on the 18, the program's first phase will begin when some organizations will start to submit data to the CMS on payments made to healthcare providers, including gifts, consulting fees and research activities.

    In May, manufacturers will complete the second phase when they submit additional, detailed payment information. “Once CMS completes the two phases of data submission, healthcare providers and manufacturers will have an opportunity to review and correct inaccuracies,” the agency noted in the message. “CMS will then post the data on our website by Sept. 30.”

    Follow Andis Robeznieks on Twitter: @MHARobeznieks

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    retail healthcare
    Race for rural care: Why retailers are moving into small communities
    Walmart clinic
    Walmart Health to add four centers, expanding into new state
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare A.M. Newsletter: Sign up to receive a comprehensive weekday morning newsletter designed for busy healthcare executives who need the latest and most important healthcare news and analysis.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing