The Adirondack Medical Home pilot, which started up last year in this area, is already showing promise and will get another big boost when Medicare joins on July 1.
Medical Home is the name of a program designed to boost the interaction between patients, their primary-care doctors and specialists. The idea is that if people get more intense care in step one, they won't wind up in emergency rooms or developing more serious illnesses. That, of course, would cut health-care costs for everyone. The program is especially beneficial to people with chronic illnesses.
One of the main benefits in this area, so far, has been funding for the installation of electronic records for all the participating doctors. The project has also paid for a caseworker and social worker at CVPH Medical Center, including such care as pharmacy and diabetic counseling.
CVPH CEO Stephens Mundy says the electronic records have turned into a "very powerful tool" against drug interactions and fraud, while saving patients money. He expects the larger savings to the hospital to show up further down the road, when the fruits of all this better coordination of care start to take root.
At Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, spokesman Joe Riccio agrees that the program, right now, is more about potential, than actual, savings. But he, too, feels confident that the cost cuts are coming.
The Medical Home program wouldn't have worked well without at least 80 percent of local doctors agreeing to get involved. That milestone was not only reached but exceeded, with only three local physicians declining to join — why those few would pass up on this is baffling.
Medicaid also needed to be part of the system in order for it to succeed on a large scale, and the state agreed to that last year, believing the program can curb costs.
When Medicare coverage comes online in July — thanks to President Obama's much-criticized health-care reform — the last major piece of the puzzle will be in place.
Most people wouldn't see much difference in a typical office visit and might not understand what the Medical Home program does for them. So here's one example: You go to the doctor, get checked for some ailment, and medicine is prescribed. Under the new electronic-records system, a search goes out for your specific insurance plan. Your doctor learns right away that your plan will pay only a small amount of the drug prescribed but will pay a larger amount for a generic version. Doctors can immediately evaluate whether you need the initially prescribed medication or are just as well off with the less expensive version.
That's just one of the ways the program can curb health-care costs. Twenty states wanted to be part of the Medical Home pilot, but fewer than 10 were selected, so New York is truly leading the way with this program. And local hospitals and patients should see the savings overtime.
Medical Home looks like a very comfortable place to be.
