Home-based primary care proved to reduce healthcare costs and hospital admissions for the sixth year in a row, according to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstration project.
The American Academy of Home Care Medicine calls the results a big win for home-based care.
“These results confirm the tremendous potential of medical care in the home,” AAHCM Executive Director Brent Feorene said.
CMS found expenditures for the Independence at Home (IAH) Demonstration for Performance were 13.8% below their spending targets, amounting to a savings of $32.3 million dollars or $5,054 per beneficiary for fiscal year 2019.
CMS said 10 out of the 11 participating IAH practices reduced the per-beneficiary-per-month expenditures commensurate with the practices spending targets and met three or more of the six reported quality measures.
The IAH program also tests whether home-based primary care reduces emergency department visits, improves health outcomes, and achieves beneficiary and family caregiver satisfaction.
Since the program began, IAH participating practices have saved Medicare more than $130 million dollars.
