UnityPoint ACO's Home Visit Program (Case Study)

UnityPoint ACO's Home Visit Program (Case Study)

Learning Systems for Accountable Care Organizations
Published: May 30, 2019
Publisher: Baltimore, MD: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Associated Project

Learning Systems for Accountable Care Organizations

Time frame: 2013-2020

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation

Authors

Natalie Graves

Sonya Streeter

This case study describes UnityPoint Accountable Care’s approach to implementing a home visit program to improve the care experience and health outcomes of beneficiaries. The accountable care organization’s (ACO’s) strategy has three components: (1) identifying beneficiaries who would benefit from a home visit as a follow-up to an inpatient discharge; (2) using the home visit to review post-discharge instructions, assess health and social service needs, and provide follow-up care; and (3) documenting and billing for reimbursement using a waiver available through the Next Generation ACO Model. UnityPoint’s preliminary analyses suggest that the home visit program led to a drop in emergency department utilization and inpatient hospital admissions. The ACO’s experience is informative for other ACOs interested in or currently implementing a home visit program.

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