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The collaboration between a commercial health plan and a physician group practice will be able to promote optimal care for patients because the partners have a different focus and outlook, says Barbara Walters, DO, senior medical director for Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
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When behavioral health patients who have been hospitalized receive interventions in their home, their compliance with treatment recommendations increases and hospital readmission drops, a study by PsycHealth Ltd.'s Home Intervention Program has found.
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A class for caregivers was established at the University of Minnesota, Fairview in Minneapolis, because caring for an ill family member is becoming common practice as more people are treated as outpatients.
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At Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, families are given a patient pathway to accompany certain clinical pathways that are used by the medical team to coordinate care.
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By combining its individual disease management programs into a member-centered system and reminding members of gaps in recommended care, Buffalo-based HealthNow New York helps members assume responsibility for managing their conditions so they can stay healthy and out of the hospital.
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Members with bipolar disorder are getting the help they need to keep their condition under control through a new telephone coaching program from Health Alliance Plan (HAP) of Michigan.
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Since implementing a maternity program that includes educational mailings and telephone counseling sessions for all pregnant members, BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Carolina has been well below the state average for pre-delivery hospitalizations and pre-term deliveries. And health plan members have experienced a drop in pre-term admissions and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) lengths of stay.
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Clinical pathways, multi-disciplinary plans of care for patients with a particular diagnosis, are not only for members of the medical team. Simple versions of these pathways, written in lay language, help empower patients and their families, and also initiate involvement in the management of their care.
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Health care costs reduced $176 for every employee a savings of $1.65 for every dollar spent on a comprehensive wellness program. These are the eye-catching numbers that occupational health professionals at Highmark Inc., a Pittsburgh-based health insurer, can point to.
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Forty-one percent more sick days, 59% more short-term disability days, 39% more long-term disability days, 48% more workers' compensation days, and 6% lower annual productivity.