News | October 25, 2010

Study Finds Comprehensive Program Improves Health, Reduces Costs

October 25, 2010 – A new study shows that an intensive population management program that matches heart disease patients to personal nurses and clinical pharmacy specialists not only reduces the risk of death but also reduces health care costs. The study, from Kaiser Permanente Colorado, will be published in the November issue of Pharmacotherapy.

Researchers examined health care expenditures in two populations of patients with heart disease: a group of 628 people enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente Collaborative Cardiac Care Service, a population disease management program, and 628 matched patients receiving standard care. The goal was to determine if an intensive disease management program could provide more value than usual care.

The study found that patients cared for by the CCCS experienced superior health outcomes. As compared to patients receiving usual care, enrollees in the CCCS had better cholesterol control, were more likely to be screened and adhere to important medications like statins, and had far fewer hospitalizations. Overall, CCCS patients had an 89 percent reduction in overall mortality and 88 percent reduction in cardiac mortality compared with patients receiving standard care.

"The goal of the CCCS is to get patients with heart disease on the right medications and deliver needed screenings and care, so one might expect to see health care costs go up with the increased service," said Tom Delate, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente Colorado and the study’s lead author. "However, we found the opposite effect: the CCCS was able to keep patients so healthy that they were more likely to stay out of the hospital. At the end of the day, expenditures from this major cost driver were reduced."

When the researchers compared costs, they found that health care expenditures for CCCS enrollees were, on average, $60 less each day for an annual average of $21,900 per patient, per year.

"This program works because it is a team approach," said John Merenich, M.D., study co-author and medical director of the Clinical Pharmacy Cardiac Risk Service. "Our teams of nurses and clinical pharmacists, as well as our health information technology, require significant investment. We always knew it was the right investment because it saved lives. Now we know it's also the right investment because it provides the highest quality care at a lower cost. This is the value people have been looking for in health care."

For more information: www.kaiserpermanente.org


Related Content

News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

Nov. 18, 2024 — Silence Therapeutics presented end-of-treatment data from its Phase 2 ALPACAR-360 study of zerlasiran, a ...

Home November 18, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

Aug. 15, 2024 — According to a new study being presented at ACC Asia 2024 in Delhi, India, drinking over 400 mg of ...

Home August 14, 2024
Home
Videos | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

As part of DAIC's continuing Thought Leadership Series, this month Editorial Director Melinda Taschetta-Millane sits ...

Home July 30, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

July 25, 2024 — BioCardia, Inc., a global leader in cellular and cell-derived therapeutics for the treatment of ...

Home July 25, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

July 18, 2024 — Elucid, a pioneering AI medical technology company providing physicians with imaging analysis software ...

Home July 18, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

July 10, 2024 — CellProthera, a private company specializing in cell-based therapies for repairing ischemic tissues, and ...

Home July 10, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

July 9, 2024 — Microbot Medical Inc. announced the completion of the first procedure in a patient utilizing its LIBERTY ...

Home July 09, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

June 26, 2024 — Semaglutide, a medication initially developed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, significantly improves ...

Home June 26, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

June 21, 2024 — Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the peer-reviewed Journal of the American College of ...

Home June 21, 2024
Home
News | Cardiovascular Clinical Studies

June 20, 2024 — Microbot Medical Inc. announced its agreement with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), a leading ...

Home June 20, 2024
Home
Subscribe Now