Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) has realized $262 million in net savings during the fourth year of Your Healthcare Plus, a care management program administered by McKesson.
Your Healthcare Plus helps improve the wellness of more than 280,000 Medicaid beneficiaries throughout the state by providing personalized telephonic and community-based registered nurse services. HFS and McKesson launched the multi-disciplinary care management program in July 2006 to help disabled adult Illinois Medicaid beneficiaries, and children with asthma and their caregivers, who are part of the Family Health Medicaid program.
By helping beneficiaries better control chronic diseases, McKesson helped save the state $262 million during year four of the program, officials say – and with more than $4.4 billion of actual claims costs during the four years, Your Healthcare Plus generated a total net savings of $569 million so far.
“Your Healthcare Plus is a tremendously successful care management program," said Emad Rizk, MD, president of McKesson Health Solutions. "Our nurse and healthcare staff use their expertise and knowledge of the community to guide participants to the most appropriate health resources. This includes talking with our telephonic or community-based staff, or taking advantage of community resources."
Through the program, McKesson’s care coordination services – the ability to help participants find and use the most appropriate resources – ensure Medicaid beneficiaries access the care needed to improve clinical indicators. Improving these indicators can directly affect a participant’s overall health and wellness.
Across all managed disease states, the program reported an average 15 percent improvement in influenza vaccinations from baseline (July 2005-June 2006) to year four. Your Healthcare Plus care coordination supported improvement, baseline to year four, for participants with heart failure, COPD, diabetes, coronary artery disease and asthma.
For participants with heart failure and/or COPD:
- 15 percent improvement in rate of beta blocker medication use in heart failure
- 41 percent improvement in spirometry testing in COPD
- 21 percent improvement in reported rate of vaccination for pneumococcal infections (pneumonia) in heart failure and COPD
For participants with diabetes:
- 36 percent improvement in retinal eye examinations
- 11 percent improvement in testing for kidney damage
- 10 percent improvement in aspirin use
- 11 percent improvement in statin (cholesterol lowering medication)
- 9 percent improvement in cholesterol testing
For participants with coronary artery disease:
- 9 percent improvement in statin (cholesterol lowering medication)
- 8 percent improvement in cholesterol testing
- 26 percent improvement in reported rate of vaccination for pneumococcal infections (pneumonia)
For participants with asthma:
- 20 percent improvement of use of written action plans for persons with asthma
By making use of Your Healthcare Plus resources, Illinois Medicaid beneficiaries "better control acute and chronic illnesses, and drive cost savings for the state," said Rizk.
