Johns Hopkins study shows we outperform

(Sep. 1, 2009) - A study by Johns Hopkins University and the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP) shows that the kind of coordinated care offered by Priority Health can help Medicare members keep from returning to the hospital after they're discharged.

The study compared re-admissions, preventable admissions and emergency room visits between patients enrolled in traditional Medicare and those in 13 privately run Medicare Advantage plans, including those offered by Priority Health.

Johns Hopkins found that in 2007, the re-admission rate for patients with Original Medicare was 18.6 percent, compared to an average rate of 13.6 percent for the private health plans in the study.

The private plans use a combination of services in the week following discharge to keep patients mending at home. The readmission rate for Priority Health Medicare Advantage plan members was 6.94 percent.

At Priority Health, staff nurses call patients during the week after they're released from the hospital. to review medications, whether an appointment has been scheduled with the primary care doctor, and to make arrangements for additional supportive services.

Priority Health has about 17,000 Medicare Advantage members and expects to expand the counties where it offers the policies this fall. Some 10.2 million of the 45 million Medicare-eligible Americans have Medicare Advantage programs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.