Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of a new model of health care designed to improve the quality of life and the efficiency of resource use for older adults with multimorbidity. Design and Methods: Guided Care enhances primary care by infusing the operative principles of seven chronic care innovations: disease management, self-management, case management, lifestyle modification, transitional care, caregiver education and support, and geriatric evaluation and management. To practice Guided Care, a registered nurse completes an educational program and uses a customized electronic health record in working with two to five primary care physicians to meet the health care needs of 50 to 60 older patients with multimorbidity. For each patient, the nurse performs a standardized comprehensive home assessment and then collaborates with the physician, the patient, and the caregiver to create two comprehensive, evidencebased management plans: a Care Guide for health care professionals, and an Action Plan for the patient and caregiver. Based in the primary care office, the nurse then regularly monitors the patient's chronic conditions, coaches the patient in self-management, coordinates the efforts of all involved health care professionals, smoothes the patient's transitions between sites of care, provides education and support for family caregivers, and facilitates access to community resources. -Results: A 1-year pilot test in a community-based primary care practice suggested that Guided Care is feasible and acceptable to physicians, patients, and caregivers. Implications: If successful in a controlled trial, Guided Care could improve the quality of life and efficiency of health care for older adults with multimorbidity.

Guided Care (GC) is an enhancement to primary care that incorporates the operative principles of disease management and chronic care innovations. In a 6-month quasi-experimental study, we compared the cost and utilization patterns of patients assigned to GC and Usual Care (UC). The setting was a community-based general internal medicine practice. The participants were patients of 4 general internists. They were older, chronically ill, community-dwelling patients, members of a capitated health plan, and identified as high risk. Using the Adjusted Clinical Groups Predictive Model (ACG-PM), we identified those at highest risk of future health care utilization. We selected the 75 highest-risk older patients of 2 internists at a primary care practice to receive GC and the 75 highest-risk older patients of 2 other internists in the same practice to receive UC. Insurance data were used to describe the groups' demographics, chronic conditions, insurance expenditures, and utilization. Among our results, at baseline, the GC (all targeted patients) and UC groups were similar in demographics and prevalence of chronic conditions, but the GC group had a higher mean ACG-PM risk score (0.34 vs. 0.20, p < 0.0001). During the following 6 months, the GC group had lower unadjusted mean insurance expenditures, hospital admissions, hospital days, and emergency department visits (p > 0.05). There were larger differences in insurance expenditures between the GC and UC groups at lower risk levels (at ACG-PM = 0.10, mean difference = $4340; at ACG-PM = 0.6, mean difference = $1304). Thirty-one of the 75 patients assigned to receive GC actually enrolled in the intervention. These results suggest that GC may reduce insurance expenditures for high-risk older adults. If these results are confirmed in larger, randomized studies, GC may help to increase the efficiency of health care for the aging American population.

Key Points Question Is the Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership, a broad care coordination program inclusive of acute care and community interventions, associated with improved health outcomes? Findings This quality improvement study found that the community intervention was associated with a statistically significant reduction in admissions, readmissions, and emergency department visits for Medicaid, but the utilization results were mixed for the acute care intervention. In terms of cost of care, there were statistically significant cost savings totaling $113.3 million. Meaning A care coordination model in an urban academic center environment can be associated with improved outcomes, including substantial cost reduction.

Objective. To examine the effects of an intervention comprising (1) a practice-based care coordination program, (2) augmented by pay for performance (P4P) for meeting quality targets, and (3) complemented by a third-party disease management on quality of care and resource use for older adults with diabetes. Data Sources/Study Setting. Claims files of a managed care organization (MCO) for 20,943 adults aged 65 and older with diabetes receiving care in Alabama, Tennessee, or Texas, from January 2004 to March 2007. Study Design. A quasi-experimental, longitudinal study in which pre-and postdata from 1,587 patients in nine intervention primary care practices were evaluated against 19,356 patients in MCO comparison practices (4900). Five incentivized quality measures, two nonincentivized measures, and two resource-use measures were investigated. We examined trends and changes in trends from baseline to follow-up, contrasting intervention and comparison group member results. Principal Findings. Quality of care generally improved for both groups during the study period. Only slight differences were seen between the intervention and comparison group trends and changes in trends over time.Conclusions. This study did not generate evidence supporting a beneficial effect of an on-site care coordination intervention augmented by P4P and complemented by thirdparty disease management on diabetes quality or resource use.

Purpose Academic healthcare systems face great challenges in coordinating services across a continuum of care that spans hospital, community providers, home and chronic care facilities. The Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership (J-CHiP) was created to improve coordination of acute, sub-acute and ambulatory care for patients, and improve the health of high-risk patients in surrounding neighborhoods. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach J-CHiP targeted adults admitted to the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, patients discharged to participating skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and high-risk Medicare and Medicaid patients receiving primary care in eight nearby outpatient sites. The primary drivers of the program were redesigned acute care delivery, seamless transitions of care and deployment of community care teams. Findings Acute care interventions included risk screening, multidisciplinary care planning, pharmacist-driven medication management, patient/family education, communication with next provider and care coordination protocols for common conditions. Transition interventions included post-discharge health plans, hand-offs and follow-up with primary care providers, Transition Guides, a patient access line and collaboration with SNFs. Community interventions involved forming multidisciplinary care coordination teams, integrated behavioral care and new partnerships with community-based organizations. Originality/value This paper offers a detailed description of the design and implementation of a complex program to improve care coordination for high-risk patients in an urban setting. The case studies feature findings from each intervention that promoted patient engagement, strengthened collaboration with community-based organizations and improved coordination of care.