Here are five key notes about the program’s success:
1. URMC reduced the percentage of patients who underwent rehabilitation at a skilled nursing facility after joint replacements from 74 percent to 25 percent.
2. The health system was able to bring down provider costs for joint replacements in the program; bundled payments also decreased the cost for congestive heart failure to a lesser extent, according to the report.
3. The health system employed a care navigator as the single point of contact for the patient and provider to start the episode of care. The program also developed a unified plan to lead to post-surgery treatment at home instead of the skilled nursing facility.
4. One goal wasn’t met, however; the hospital hoped to reduce readmissions but did not except in cases where patients returned home to a home health provider that was a hospital partner. The patients with a home health provider had a 17 percent readmission rate, compared with 43 percent for patients who returned to regular home care.
5. Since beginning the program, URMC’s administration has tried to find ways to leverage the joint replacement bundle payment’s efficiencies in other patients.
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