A consortium of health care providers in Monroe and 13 other counties is looking for ways to reduce Medicaid costs and improve care for patients at the same time.
A local group of physicians and health care providers met in Rochester Wednesday for an update on these ongoing efforts.
Dr. Thomas Campbell, chair of the UR Medicine Department of Family Medicine, says one goal is to reduce avoidable hospital use by 25 percent over a five-year period. Campbell says right now, many patients are re-hospitalized after an illness because they're not getting proper follow-up care. "Either because they don't have a primary care physician, or because an appointment wasn't made, they don't have a physician, or they're homeless."
Campbell says health care providers will have to work together to coordinate the care of Medicaid patients both in and outside of the hospital.
"And that's clearly possible, because much of the expense of Medicaid has been because of poor use and lack of integration of services that has resulted in over-utilization."
The regional consortium hopes to cut visits to emergency departments by 25 percent over the same five-year period.