Geisinger Demonstrates Improved Quality, Shares In Medicare Cost Savings

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 21 Aug 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Geisinger has been recognized again for improving the quality of care while decreasing healthcare costs in the third year of a five-year Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstration project.

Medicare beneficiaries who receive most of their care in the Geisinger Health System, which includes 40 community practice sites in central and northeast Pennsylvania, experienced improved quality of care at a lower cost to the federal Medicare program as compared to Medicare beneficiaries receiving their care in the same geographic region from other providers.

CMS, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, launched the Physician Group Practice (PGP) Demonstration to allow physician groups to prove that providing proactive, coordinated care can also save money.

Ten large group practices across the country are involved in the demonstration. The project was originally developed as a three-year effort and received an extension of a fourth and fifth year.

"We focused on hardwiring reminders and alerts into the electronic health record to enhance care consistency and reliability particularly related to diabetes and coronary care as well as ensuring adults receive preventative health screenings," explained Frederick Bloom, M.D., assistant chief qualify officer, Geisinger Health System. "By participating in this project, we're able to develop more effective ways of consistently bringing quality and value to all our patients, not just the Medicare beneficiaries who are the focus of the demonstration project."

While the 10 participating physician groups demonstrated benchmark performance on at least 28 of the 32 performance measures, Geisinger was one of only two groups to show improved quality of care on all 32 performance measures which included continuing programs for diabetes and coronary artery disease, as well as adult preventative care, and hypertension.

We successfully met 100 percent of the quality measures in part through effective use of our sophisticated EHR," said Ronald Paulus, M.D., M.B.A., "But above all, it was the focused commitment of all Geisinger physicians and staff to delivering quality care and integrating the EHR into all that we do that contributed to our success," he added. "Geisinger's EHR helps our healthcare providers deliver the best and most efficient care since all lab results, notes and studies completed at Geisinger sites are available through the EHR to any provider. This helps decrease repeat testing and improve coordination of care between healthcare providers, no matter where in the system the patient is located."

In addition to Geisinger, the nine other sites participating in the project include: Billings Clinic, Billings, MT; Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, Bedford, NH; The Everett Clinic, Everett, WA; Forsyth Medical Group, Winston-Salem, NC; Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, WI; Middlesex Health System, Middletown, CT; Park Nicollet Health Services, St. Louis Park, MN; St. John's Health System, Springfield, MO; and the University of Michigan Faculty Group Practice, Ann Arbor, MI.

About Geisinger Health System

Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System (Danville, PA) is one of the nation' s largest integrated health services organizations. Serving more than two million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania, the physician-led organization is at the forefront of the country's rapidly emerging electronic health records movement. Geisinger is comprised of three medical center campuses, a 700-member group practice, a not-for-profit health insurance company and the Center for Health Research dedicated to creating innovative new models for patient care, satisfaction and clinical outcomes.

Source: Geisinger Health System

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