Partners Home Care Scores in Top Tier in National Medicare Demonstration Project

BOSTON, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Partners Home Care (PHC), a leading provider of home health, hospice and private care services, has been recognized as one of the  top performing agencies by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in a recently concluded seven state project. The project was designed to measure the benefits and possible savings of utilizing home health care more for Medicare patients. The project resulted in $15.4 million dollars in savings while meeting key quality goals, suggesting effective use of home health services nationally could have significant savings to Medicare and Medicaid while providing more effective disease management.

"This project has major implications for patients with chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure, pulmonary disease, and diabetes that often represent the most complex and costly group of conditions to care for. As the occurrence of these diseases tends to increase with age, these numbers are predicted to rise as the growing number of baby boomers approach retirement," said Judy Flynn, PHC's Vice President for Patient Quality Care. "If patients receive treatment and interventions that improve their functioning in their home environment, they gain more control over their disease process and can remain independent."  

Partners Home Care was part of an elite group of agencies to participate in the project.  PHC placed in the top 20% in the Northeast and scored particularly well on several key measures, including a reduction in hospital use and emergent care, as well as improvement in important functional independence measures such as bathing and the ability to manage medications enabling people to remain in their own home.    

By utilizing medication management, rehabilitation therapies, and proven interventions such as tele-monitoring, patients have shown to do better in managing their illness and maintain a higher quality of life. Patients are also more likely to avoid an admission to a hospital for an exacerbated problem or a nursing home for long term care, factors that significantly drive up the cost of Medicare.

"This demonstration project proves not only that home care can lower overall healthcare costs for Medicare but also signifies the important role the industry will have in health care reform and in the continuum of care in the future" said Chris Attaya, President and CEO Partners Home Care.   "We are proud to play a leading role in helping address this critical issue."

About Partners Home Care

Partners Home Care (PHC) is one of the region's largest non-profit home health care providers, offering a full array of home health care, hospice and private care services in homes, assisted living communities, and nursing homes throughout Eastern Massachusetts. The organization is committed to delivering the highest quality services available at home -- where the comfort and security of familiar surroundings greatly enhance quality of life. PHC was named to the 2009 HomeCare Elite list of the nation's top 25 percent of home health agencies. Member of Partners HealthCare, an integrated health care system founded by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital.  For more information please visit www.partnershomecare.org.

SOURCE Partners Home Care