LOS ANGELES, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded Care Level Management Direct (CLM) a groundbreaking contract to provide round-the-clock access to in-home physician care to 15,000 members in California, Texas and Florida during a three-year pilot project. CLM’s Personal Visiting Physician(TM) delivery system is projected to increase access and care to chronically-ill elderly beneficiaries and provide savings to Medicare. This pilot will be performed at no additional cost beyond patients’ traditional fee-for-service Medicare benefits. All of the patients’ Medicare benefits remain the same.
“This demonstration project will focus on Medicare beneficiaries who have the most to gain from our health care system but who too often don’t get the best possible prevention-oriented care,” said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. “This is another effort to support promising approaches to help our beneficiaries get the most innovative, effective care possible as well as reward organizations who provide better quality care at lower costs.”
Unable to adequately access care, the country’s sickest and neediest elderly often resort to emergency room visits and subsequent hospitalizations -- two of the most expensive health care services -- for treatment. The first and only system of care of its kind, the Personal Visiting Physician delivery system breaks this cycle by giving patients round-the-clock access to house calls by board-certified doctors. Personal Visiting Physicians (PVPs) are available to see patients in their homes 24-hours a day as needed.
“We are putting the patient first by practicing modern medicine the old fashioned way,” said Henri Becker, M.D., chief medical officer and co-founder of Care Level Management Direct. “Spending up to an hour or more at each home visit allows our doctors to provide the care and attention that can help chronically ill patients from deteriorating into an acute phase of the condition, as well as intervene sooner during an acute event, all of which helps avoid trips to the emergency room and hospitalization.”
How the Personal Visiting Physician Delivery System Works: * Patients are assigned to and given their PVP’s cell phone number providing them direct, 24/7 access to a physician with intimate knowledge of their condition. * In addition to routine home visits, the PVP is available to come to the patient’s home at any hour of the day, any day of the week. * The PVP system overcomes many of the obstacles these patients have to seeing a doctor such as transportation and impacted physician office schedules. * Conducting the physical exam in the comfort of the home reduces patient anxiety and creates the foundation for a more productive and personal doctor-patient relationship. * The voluntary delivery system requires no additional costs beyond patients’ traditional fee-for-service Medicare benefits for visits by Personal Visiting Physicians. All of the patients’ Medicare benefits remain the same. * Avoiding ER visits and hospitalizations also reduces the patient’s direct health care costs including deductibles, co-insurance and other fee-for-service expenses related to hospitalization.
With managed care operations in six major cities across the nation, the Personal Visiting Physician delivery system has historically reduced acute hospital admission by an average of 60 percent, resulting in an average net savings of 30 percent in institutional costs alone. Additional savings are realized in reduced hospital specialist consultation fees, ambulance, diagnostic tests during admissions, pharmacy and ER costs.
About Medicare Pilot Project:
For the first time, in addition to their current benefits, Medicare beneficiaries selected for this demonstration project will have 24-hour access to in-home care by a physician through the Personal Visiting Physician delivery system. Beginning in the fall of 2005, 15,000 qualified voluntary beneficiaries in Los Angeles, central California, San Francisco, San Antonio and Central Florida will be enrolled in the pilot project. Over the course of the 3-year contract, Care Level Management and its Personal Visiting Physician delivery system is expected to increase access and quality of care while providing substantial cost savings to Medicare. Care Level Management was awarded the contract as part of Medicare’s Care Management for High Risk Beneficiaries (CMHCB) demonstration.
About Care Level Management:
Currently operating in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Antonio, Tampa and Melbourne, Florida, Care Level Management’s innovative health care model offers a solution to America’s public health crisis with a proven track record of improved quality and reduced cost of care. Care Level Management’s patient-first, physician-driven delivery system is changing the way medicine is practiced in America by sending physicians to the homes of fragile elderly and medically underserved patients. For more information, please visit www.carelevel.com.
Care Level Management Direct
CONTACT: Paul Kalil of Care Level Management Direct, +1-805-374-1184,pkalil@carelevel.com
Web site: http://www.carelevel.com/
