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Geisinger demonstrates improved quality,
shares in Medicare Cost Savings
Newswise — Geisinger has been recognized
again for improving the quality of care
while decreasing healthcare costs in the
third year of a five-year Center for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
demonstration project.
Medicare beneficiaries who receive most of
their care in the Geisinger Health System,
which includes 40 community practice sites
in central and northeast Pennsylvania,
experienced improved quality of care at a
lower cost to the federal Medicare program
as compared to Medicare beneficiaries
receiving their care in the same geographic
region from other providers.
CMS, part of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, launched the Physician
Group Practice (PGP) Demonstration to allow
physician groups to prove that providing
proactive, coordinated care can also save
money.
Ten large group practices across the country
are involved in the demonstration.
The project was originally developed as a
three-year effort and received an extension
of a fourth and fifth year.
“We focused on hardwiring reminders and
alerts into the electronic health record to
enhance care consistency and reliability
particularly related to diabetes and
coronary care as well as ensuring adults
receive preventative health screenings,”
explained Frederick Bloom, M.D., assistant
chief qualify officer, Geisinger Health
System.
“By participating in this project, we’re
able to develop more effective ways of
consistently bringing quality and value to
all our patients, not just the Medicare
beneficiaries who are the focus of the
demonstration project.”
While the 10 participating physician groups
demonstrated benchmark performance on at
least 28 of the 32 performance measures,
Geisinger was one of only two groups to show
improved quality of care on all 32
performance measures which included
continuing programs for diabetes and
coronary artery disease, as well as adult
preventative care, and hypertension.
We successfully met 100 percent of the
quality measures in part through effective
use of our sophisticated EHR,” said Ronald
Paulus, M.D., M.B.A.,
“But above all, it was the focused
commitment of all Geisinger physicians and
staff to delivering quality care and
integrating the EHR into all that we do that
contributed to our success,” he added.
“Geisinger’s EHR helps our healthcare
providers deliver the best and most
efficient care since all lab results, notes
and studies completed at Geisinger sites are
available through the EHR to any provider.
"This
helps decrease repeat testing and improve
coordination of care between healthcare
providers, no matter where in the system the
patient is located.”
In addition to Geisinger, the nine other
sites participating in the project include:
Billings Clinic, Billings, MT;
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, Bedford, NH; The
Everett Clinic, Everett, WA; Forsyth Medical
Group, Winston-Salem, NC; Marshfield Clinic,
Marshfield, WI; Middlesex Health System,
Middletown, CT; Park Nicollet Health
Services, St. Louis Park, MN; St. John’s
Health System, Springfield, MO; and the
University of Michigan Faculty Group
Practice, Ann Arbor, MI.
About Geisinger Health System
Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System
(Danville, PA) is one of the nation’ s
largest integrated health services
organizations. Serving more than two million
residents throughout central and
northeastern Pennsylvania, the physician-led
organization is at the forefront of the
country’s rapidly emerging electronic health
records movement.
Geisinger is comprised of three medical
center campuses, a 700-member group
practice, a not-for-profit health insurance
company and the Center for Health
Research—dedicated to creating innovative
new models for patient care, satisfaction
and clinical outcomes. For more information,
visit
www.geisinger.org.
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