Medicare Model Program Improved Care But Didn’t Lower Costs

A federal program that tested a new approach to the delivery of Medicare services to high-risk patients delivered on its promise to improve the quality of care for patients but did not reduce the cost of caring for those patients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative improved access to care for patients in more than 500 participating medical practices and reduced their ER visits two percent but did not reduce Medicare’s cost for caring for these patients.  After several years in effect the program, which features enhanced care management for high-risk patients, improved coordination of [...]