Vivek Garg: The impact of Senior-Focused Primary Care

Vivek Garg, Chief Medical Officer & SVP, Primary Care, Humana, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“For twenty years, I have read Health Affairs, the nation’s leading health policy journal.

My obsession with understanding our population’s health and what can improve it started with Howard Forman‘s class at Yale University, grew as a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission research analyst, flourished as a PCP, and then became straight-up unhealthy working with Dr. Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA at CareMore Health.

Across this journey, Health Affairs always had relevant evidence & perspective.

Last week, Humana published the results of the largest study ever (462,000 seniors) looking at the impact of “Senior-Focused Primary Care” (e.g. organizations such as Iora Health, Oak Street Health, ChenMed, CenterWell Senior Primary Care) on senior’s engagement with primary care, quality metrics, and use of the ER & hospital…in that very journal.

The impact of these models is serious, with:
– A higher social deprivation index in the communities served
– A higher share of Black & Dual-Eligible seniors under care
– Better preventive & chronic care quality, including more control of hypertension and diabetes, two of our nation’s silent killers
– Strong signs of lower need for the ER & hospital
– Even more lift for Black and Dual-Eligible seniors, closing disparities in care

We see it every day…seniors without access to thorough primary care, clinicians without the time and resources to manage the most complex, and practices without the payment & tools to effectively deliver comprehensive care and improvement of outcomes.

So we’ve been doing something about it…and it shows.

This contribution was made possible through Humana‘s commitment to rigorous research, leaders like William Shrank, Kate Goodrich, Brian Powers, Gosia Sylwestrzak, and a stellar Healthcare Research team (Kaylyn Swankoski, Amanda Sutherland, Emily Boudreau, Yong Li, Melanie Canterberry) partnered with Professor Michael McWilliams.

Most importantly, there wouldn’t be anything to report on without our teams caring for seniors every day at CenterWell Senior Primary Care and fellow primary care groups.

They are the ones bringing high quality primary care to seniors across the country, every day.”

Senior-Focused Primary Care Organizations Increase Access For Medicare Advantage Members, Especially Underserved Groups

Authors: Kaylyn E. Swankoski, Amanda Sutherland, Emily Boudreau, Yong Li, Melanie Canterberry, J. Michael McWilliams, Vivek Garg, Brian W. Powers.

Source: Vivek Garg/LinkedIn