It’s about how @AledadeACO uses Medicare Annual Wellness Visits as a tool to engage patients, improve quality scores, and yes- reduce costs.
ajmc.com/journals/issue…
@AdamLBeckman
One of the key pillars for patient engagement was the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit
brookings.edu/wp-content/upl…
@jjseidman @jcolbertMD
#GoodFee4Service?
Sure enough, we saw vendors popping up to do just that
We believed that AWVs were worth it
Everyone go read @mrsbrull writing about her experience in @aafp "Finding the Bright Spots in Value-Based Care”
aafp.org/fpm/2017/0900/…
Our first @AledadeACO app was a tool to help call priority patients. We implemented EHR templates, provided data tools, supported performance monitoring, and shared best practices.
And lots of in-person workflow support
I don’t believe that they do, uncaveated
More primary care is good. More payments to primary care docs is great. But you don’t save money unless you are aiming at doing so
Well, first off, quality scores improved a lot for things that require diligence (and documentation) like falls risk screening, but also improved for clinical quality measures like pneumonia vaccination and A1C control.
This makes sense to me
We probably spent 90% of the time on this paper focused on whether we were just seeing selection bias.
After LOTS of work, I don’t think so.
Next time, I’m bribing @amitabhchandra2 with whiskey to help me
And the sicker the cohort, the bigger the impact
The study population was ambulatory, could come to a PCP visit, not in hospice, etc.
And as I noted- this is within the context of primary care practices that are in an ACO and highly supported
If we didn’t believe it saved money in excess of the costs (in this case $480 vs $175), we would be idiots to pursue it as a central strategy in our business.
“Annual wellness visits have been the cornerstone of many ACOs’ strategies …"
ajmc.com/press-release/… via @AJMC_Journal
Adan Becerra
@anna_m_marcus
@AnnetteDuBard
@kllynch7
Emily Maxson
Jen King
And the 114 independent primary care practices in Delaware, New York, Arkansas, and Virginia who work hard for their patients every day.