U.S. Medical Management, and its Affiliate Visiting Physicians Association, Improve Health and Reduce Costs for the Frail Elderly under the CMS Independence at Home Demonstration - for Fifth Year

TROY, Mich., Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that in the Fifth Performance Year of the seven-year Independence at Home (IAH) Demonstration, U.S. Medical Management (USMM) and its affiliate Visiting Physicians Association (VPA) achieved significant improvements in quality of patient care, while significantly reducing overall healthcare costs for homebound elderly patients with complex, chronic conditions. 

Five of the 14 current practices participating in the IAH Demonstration are VPA practices, managed by USMM. Together the VPA practices were responsible for caring for patients making up approximately 45 percent of the entire Demonstration in Year 5.

The IAH Demonstration was designed to test whether home-centered care can reduce the need for hospital and emergency room care, improve patient and caregiver satisfaction, and lead to better health outcomes for beneficiaries along with lower costs to Medicare.  Home-based primary care allows physicians and nurse-practitioners to spend more time with their patients, perform assessments in the patient's home environment, and assume greater responsibility for all aspects of their patient's care. 

Year 5 results from VPA practices participating in the IAH Demonstration show extraordinary performance in a number of quality and cost measures.  Those USMM/VPA accomplishments include:

• $19 Million in Savings (60+ %) of Total CMS Savings in Performance Year 5
• Continued reductions in ALL Cause 30 Day Readmissions, In-Hospital Admissions and Emergency Department Visits for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions
• VPA/USMM has saved over $50 million in the first five years of the program and continues to improve on IAH quality measures

"The IAH results are a validation of our 25-year commitment to helping the elderly maintain their health and improve their well-being through home-based primary care services," noted Rajiv Patel, MD, CEO of USMM.  "Our care delivery model has always been supported by strong continuity-based relationships with our Provider partners, our clinical discipline and a deep respect for the dignity and value of seniors in their respective communities.  We are very proud to have contributed in a meaningful way to this important CMS initiative."

CMS also highlighted that eight (8) of the fourteen (14) participating practices were eligible for shared savings incentive payments in year 5; three of those eight were VPA practices. 

Financial results for the VPA/USMM participating practices for Year 1 through Year 5 are available here:
https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/independence-at-home/

About USMM
U.S. Medical Management (USMM), along with its affiliated entities (Visiting Physicians Association, Pinnacle Senior Care, and Grace Hospice, among others) is a leading management services organization and provider of home based primary care services for complex/fragile patients.  Based in Troy, Michigan, USMM operates Visiting Physician Association practices in 12 states, constituting a 200 + primary care provider group, providing continuity-based primary care under an integrated, physician-driven model which includes ancillary services such as home health, hospice, radiology, diagnostics, DME and laboratory. In 2014, the Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) acquired USMM, integrating USMM's care delivery model across its Medicaid and dual-eligible membership.  USMM also operates a multi-state Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO serving approximately 20,000 complex/fragile Medicare patients.

SOURCE U.S. Medical Management (USMM)