In 2009, MetroHealth piloted a new form of patient care to better serve uninsured area residents. The program—called Partners in Care—provides what’s known as a “medical home,” meaning it offers people coordinated, preventative medical services under one roof.
MetroHealth physician, Dr. Jim Misak explains.
MISAK: The goal behind the patient-centered medical home is to do more for the patient up-front, at the level of primary care to help keep them healthier and help them manage their chronic illnesses better so t hat they will both be healthier and avoid potentially avoidable high cost ER visits and hospitalizations down the road.
One year in, Misak says, the program is paying off.
MISAK: What we found is that for the Partners in Care patients, their emergency department visits were about 7% less than the non-Partners in Care group, and the average cost per visit was about 5% less.
In-patient hospital stays were also less frequent and less costly, and people in the program with chronic diseases were actually getting healthier—there was improvement in blood sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as better blood pressure control.
MetroHealth just received a 1.3 million dollar grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to continue work like this for the Cleveland community and to share their results with the rest of the country.