*EMBARGOED All research presented at the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting is strictly embargoed until Monday, October 17, 2016 at 8:00 am EDT.
Oral 69 Decreased Emergency Room Utilization and Hospitalizations, and Improved Quality of Life in the First Year of an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH)
Author Insight from Miguel D. Regueiro, MD, FACG, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
What’s new here and important for clinicians?
This work represents the first patient-centered medical home for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It is a joint payer-provider initiative to improve the quality of the patient experience while reducing cost. As a gastroenterologist that leads an interdisciplinary team of health care specialists, we provide “whole person” care to those with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. There were 308 patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis enrolled in the IBD Medical Home in the first year. Patients all had the same (UPMC) health plan insurance and had IBD as their primary reason to seek medical attention. Many of these patients had a poor quality of life and high utilization of emergency room (ER) care and hospitalization i.e., they frequently went to the ER or hospital for symptoms e.g., pain. Through this multidisciplinary Total Care Specialty Medical Home for IBD, we were able to show a significant improvement in the quality of life, and reduction in the unplanned care i.e., ER utilization and hospitalization. The decrease in unplanned care was nearly 50% for ER and hospitalizations compared to the year prior to enrollment in the IBD Medical Home. We believe that these findings are important and will help us and others develop new models of care for IBD and potentially specialty medical homes for other chronic diseases.
What do patients need to know?
Patients need to know that the delivery of medicine is changing in the era of health care reform. Also, that doctors, in collaboration with health plans, are looking at new ways to provide patient-centered care. This model has existed for primary care, but patients with chronic diseases who see a specialist for their care need to know that there will be the creation of specialty medical homes for them. The specialty medical homes will provide whole-person care for patients in a way that they have not experienced in the past.
Read Related Abstract: Poster 389 Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Care Rapidly Improves Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Quality of Life, Depression, Disease Activity and Disease Complexity
Author Contact
Miguel D. Regueiro, MD, FACG, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
mdr7@pitt.edu
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