Alternative Model of Care for Chronically Ill Results in $33.5 Million Reduction in Anticipated Spending in Fifth Performance Year

The $33.5 million is equivalent to a reduction of 8.4 percent

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — The Independence at Home (IAH) Demonstration, a program from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that is testing a model of in-home primary care for people with multiple chronic conditions, resulted in expenditures $33.5 million below spending targets in its fifth year, according to a new report. The $33.5 million is equivalent to an 8.4 percent reduction below spending targets, or a reduction in expenditures of $2,711 per beneficiary. The IAH Demonstration is one of the earliest initiatives to come out of the CMS Innovation Center.

Participating health practices may earn incentive payments if they achieve significant reductions in spending and meet quality benchmarks. CMS will provide incentive payments to eight practices that achieved these goals in Performance Year five.

RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, has supported implementation of the IAH Demonstration in partnership with CMS. The IAH Demonstration provides chronically ill patients with the complete range of primary care services in the home setting and tests whether this home-based model of care can improve health, reduce the need for hospitalization, improve patient and caregiver satisfaction, and reduce costs to Medicare.