Iora clinics develop effective model for care of Medicare patients

Iora Primary Care clinics, which exclusively provide care for Medicare patients, have demonstrated high levels of worker happiness and patient experience at each clinic, according to study results presented at the 2016 American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting.

“In the fall of 2014, Iora Primary Care opened four clinics in Washington and Arizona to provide comprehensive care to Medicare patients,” Carroll Haymon, MD, clinical assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Washington, and colleagues wrote. “Led by experienced geriatricians, these clinics have a novel care team, physical space, and payment structure that allow primary care for seniors that delivers on the Quintuple Aim.”

To measure their model’s quality of care at all four clinics, Haymon and colleagues tracked Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set and 5-star quality scores from insurance data and electronic medical records. To examine their model’s cost of care through claims data, the researchers tracked the use of inpatient, specialty and ED care. To measure the quality of each patient’s experience, the researchers administered the Net Promoter Score survey. To examine the quality of their own workers’ experience, the researchers used a consulting firm to administer the Happiness at Work Survey. Lastly, to measure the sustainability of their model, the researchers measured the continued growth of practices and enrollment.

In 2015, the researchers found that their model’s quality of care ranked 3.4 out of 5 at clinics in Arizona and 3.9 out of 5 at clinics in Washington state. The cost varied significantly from month to month, without showing any significant trend. Patient happiness was 83% in Washington and 86% in Arizona, while worker happiness was 8.2 out of 10 in Arizona and between 7.4 and 7.5 out of 10 in Washington. In addition, growth continued with new practices in Denver and Boston.

“In our first year of operation, the Iora Primary Care clinics are becoming an effective delivery system for meeting the Quintuple Aim for Medicare patients,” Haymon and colleagues wrote. “We anticipate continued gains in both quality and cost measures as our healing relationships with patients develop, and clinic systems mature.” – by Will Offit

Reference:

Haymon C, et al. Abstract C128. Presented at: the 2016 American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting; May 19-20; Long Beach, California.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.