TROY, Mich., June 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that in the first year of the three-year Independence at Home (IAH) Demonstration, U.S. Medical Management (USMM) and its affiliate Visiting Physicians Association (VPA) were able to achieve significant improvements in quality of patient care while reducing overall healthcare costs for homebound elderly patients with complex, chronic conditions.

Five (5) of the Seventeen (17) practices participating in the IAH Demonstration are VPA practices, operated by USMM; together the VPA practices were responsible for over 2,200 patients making up more than of 25% of the entire Demonstration in Year 1.

The IAH Demonstration was designed to test whether home-based care can reduce the need for hospital and emergency room care, improve patient and caregiver satisfaction, and lead to better health outcomes for beneficiaries along with lower costs to Medicare. Home-based primary care allows physicians and nurse-practitioners to spend more time with their patients, perform assessments in the patient's home environment, and assume greater accountability for all aspects of their patient's care.

Initial results from VPA/USMM practices participating in the IAH Demonstration show high performance in a number of quality and cost measures. Those improvements include:

• 16.4% Reduction in Expected Costs
• Material reductions in All Cause 30 Day Readmissions, In-Hospital Admissions and ED Visits for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions

"The IAH results are a validation of our 20-year commitment to helping the elderly maintain their health and improve their well-being through home-based primary care services," noted Mark Mitchell, Founder and CEO of USMM and its affiliate VPA practices. "Our care delivery model has always been supported by strong continuity-based relationships with our patients, clinical discipline and a deep respect for the dignity and value of seniors in their respective communities. We are very proud to have had the opportunity to be part of this important CMS initiative."

CMS also highlighted that only nine (9) of the seventeen (17) participating practices were eligible for shared savings incentive payments; five (5) of those nine (9) were VPA practices.

Financial results for the VPA/USMM participating practices during Year 1 are available here: http://innovation.cms.gov/Files/x/iah-yroneresults.pdf

About USMM
U.S. Medical Management (USMM), along with its affiliated entities (Visiting Physicians Association, Pinnacle Home Care and Grace Hospice, among others) is a leading management services organization and provider of home-based primary care services for complex/fragile patients. Based in Troy, Michigan, USMM operates Visiting Physician Association practices in 14 states, constituting a 200+ primary care provider group, providing continuity-based primary care under an integrated, physician-driven model which includes ancillary services such as home health, hospice, podiatry, radiology, diagnostics, DME, laboratory, and pharmacy. In 2014, Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) acquired a majority interest in USMM, integrating USMM's care delivery model across its Medicaid and dual-eligible membership. USMM also operates a multi-state Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO serving over 23,000 complex/fragile Medicare patients and is a major participant in the Independence at Home Demonstration.

SOURCE U.S. Medical Management