Care Coordination

National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C) Response:
"Transforming the Health Care Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs"

The undersigned members of the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C) submit the following comments.

Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Grassley, and Members of the Committee:

We would like to commend you for your work to make comprehensive health care reform a reality and for your support for initiatives that realize improved quality and savings through care coordination.

The New York Academy of Medicine and the American Society on Aging formed the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C) in March 2008. N3C is a national, non-profit membership coalition of consumer, aging, social service, health care, family caregiver, and professional organizations dedicated to improving the quality of care for individuals of all ages through support for care coordination. N3C's primary goals are to promote better coordination of health and social services for older adults with multiple chronic conditions, to deepen the knowledge of care coordination models in the health and social sectors, to analyze delivery and financing options, and to advocate for evidence-based policy recommendations on how care coordination can help transform our health care system. N3C believes that care coordination should be an essential part of health care reform to improve the quality of life for America's aging population and their caregivers, while more efficiently using health care and social support resources. MORE >

ASA-NYAM National Forum on Care Coordination
Las Vegas, March 15-19, 2009

The ASA-NCOA 2009 Aging in America Conference provides a unique opportunity to bring together professionals in the field of aging to address specific topics in care coordination that impact the widespread availability of this important service to older adults in need. This day long forum seeks to address some of the key topics that impact the efficacy of care coordination and the ability of those who promote this service to expand their reach. Given the multiplicity of care coordination programs, it is necessary to discover common ground among the different approaches and work together in order to make care coordination a more universal practice. This forum will build on the work of the National Coalition for Care Coordination (N3C), a group founded by The New York Academy of Medicine and the American Society on Aging. MORE >

National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C) letter recommending changes in the House health care reform bill (HR 3200)

NATIONAL COALITION ON CARE COORDINATION (N3C)

July 31, 2009

The Honorable George Miller, Chair
Committee on Education & Labor
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Charles B. Rangel, Chair
Committee on Ways and Means
1102 Longworth House Office Building
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Henry A. Waxman, Chair
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairmen Miller, Rangel and Waxman:

On behalf of the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C), we would like to thank you for your work to reform our nation's health care system while improving quality and reducing the cost of unnecessary hospitalizations, outpatient procedures and tests. The names of N3C member organizations that have signed on to this letter are listed at its conclusion.

We applaud your inclusion of certain care coordination provisions in America's Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200), and encourage you to continue to seek opportunities to ensure that the care called for in the bill is coordinated, interdisciplinary, and comprehensive, integrating community social services with medical services, as noted below. MORE >

Two important papers on care coordination, commissioned by the New York Academy of Medicine in conjunction with the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C). Both can help policy makers craft national health care legislation to better serve older adults and their caregivers.

The first, "The Promise of Care Coordination: An Analysis of Care Coordination Models that Can Reduce Hospitalization and Expenditures Among Medicare Beneficiaries and Improve Quality of Care" was written by Randall Brown, PhD, of the Mathematica Policy Institute, Inc. and released at the 2009 Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging. It found that care coordination can reduce hospitalizations and Medicare costs and improve the quality of care for chronically ill older adults so long as the programs involve direct engagement of interdisciplinary teams with close communication among all providers involved in a patient’s care, and empower patients with caregivers to manage their own care.

The second, "Structuring, Financing, and Paying for Effective Chronic Care Coordination ," was written by Robert Berenson, MD, a Fellow at the Urban Institute and an expert in Medicare policy, and Julianne Howell, PhD, an independent technical consultant to The New York Academy of Medicine's Social Work Leadership Institute and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). It incorporated the comments and recommendations of national experts who met on June 3, 2009, at an N3C-sponsored meeting on financing and payment options for care coordination. Released on August 4, 2009, This paper will be important for the consideration of both care coordination and payment for it as the push for health care reform continues.

Structuring, Financing, and Paying for Effective Chronic Care Coordination

The National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C), of which the New York Academy of Medicine is a founding member, has just released an important paper on financing and payment options for care coordination. The paper, "Structuring, Financing, and Paying for Effective Chronic Care Coordination ," was authored by Robert Berenson, MD, an Institute Fellow at the Urban Institute and an expert in Medicare policy, and Julianne Howell, PhD, an independent technical consultant to The New York Academy of Medicine's Social Work Leadership Institute and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

It is based on a working paper the two wrote for the June 3, 2009 conference "Financing and Payment Options for Care Coordination," which was attended by national experts from many professions and organizations with interest and experience in care coordination in both the acute care and social service areas. The participants in this conference contributed their experience, knowledge and recommendations on financing for care coordination, which were then incorporated in the final paper released on August 4, 2009.

As the debate intensifies around the cost of national healthcare reform, this paper is an important contribution for the inclusion in current legislation of care coordination, which is a potential solution for reducing hospitalization, particularly re-admissions for Medicare patients with multiple chronic conditions, and for reduction in costs for this population, which accounts for a significant portion of the nation's healthcare costs.

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N3C Response to Senate Finance Committee

Transforming the Health Care Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs.

The Promise of Care Coordination

Models that Decrease Hospitalizations and Improve Outcomes for Medicare Beneficiaries with Chronic Illnesses

A major new report finds that care coordination programs can reduce hospitalizations and Medicare costs and improve the quality of care for chronically ill older adults--provided the programs: promote direct engagement of teams of primary care physicians, nurses and social workers; create close communication among all providers involved in a patient's care; and empower patients and caregivers to help manage their own care. Released at the 2009 Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging, "The Promise of Care Coordination: An Analysis of Care Coordination Models that Can Reduce Hospitalization and Expenditures Among Medicare Beneficiaries and Improve Quality of Care" can help policy-makers craft national health care reforms that will better serve older adults and their caregivers.

The New York Academy of Medicine commissioned the report in conjunction with the National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C). It was authored by Dr. Randall Brown of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Brown was the lead researcher for a recent government study of 15 care coordination programs nationwide that serve older patients. The Brown report issued Tuesday takes a deeper look at the programs that were most successful at yielding quality improvements and cost savings, to identify commonalities and determine whether there is sufficient evidence to pursue care coordination as part of a national health care reform plan.

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