Fourth consecutive year of honors for this Long Island provider
For the fourth consecutive year, Northwell Health’s House Calls program has been recognized by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for its success in caring for chronically ill, frail seniors through home-based primary care as part of a federal demonstration project. In addition to improving health outcomes, Northwell’s clinicians reduced costs during the program’s fourth year by $13,056 per patient annually for a total savings to Medicare of $3.4 million.
Located in New Hyde Park, NY, Northwell Health’s House Calls practice is part of the demonstration project known as Independence at Home, which was established as part of the Affordable Care Act. CMS awarded a total of $7.7 million in incentive payments to seven of the 14 participating practices that succeeded in reducing Medicare costs and met quality goals.
During the fourth year of the demonstration project, Northwell’s House Calls practice provided care to 352 patients in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island as well as the New York City borough of Queens. Independence at Home’s targeted spending for each beneficiary, which is based on a regional formula, was $3,691. Northwell’s practice spent $2,603 delivering care to each patient, a cost savings of 29.5 percent.
Northwell had the highest savings performance among the demonstration sites nationwide. After accounting for Medicare withholds, Northwell earned $1.9 million in incentive payments, the only such program in New York State to receive incentive payments from CMS.
“We know home is where our older, chronically patients want to be and we go to great lengths to make this happen whenever possible,” said Karen Abrashkin, MD, medical director of Northwell Health House Calls. “Programs like Independence at Home involve a large interdisciplinary team working in concert to deliver individualized patient care. Feedback from the federal program shows that we are allowing older adults to age safely in place.”
