Health Affairs Blog: "How Community-Based Organizations Can Support Value-Driven Health Care

Anad Parekh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, and Robert Schreiber, MD, of the Hebrew SeniorLife Medical Group, have published an article in the Health Affairs Blog that explains how vital it is to connect patients with community-based organizations, such as Area Agencies on Aging. The article includes real-world examples as well as data that support the effectiveness of this approach:

"As our health care system transforms more quickly than ever from paying for volume to paying for value, providers have strong incentives to ensure that their patients’ care plans are reinforced and supported outside the clinical setting in people’s homes and communities.

"This is particularly important for older adults with multiple chronic conditions, who comprise 66 percent of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries and account for 93 percent of total Medicare expenditures. In addition, it is well known that individuals with both chronic conditions and functional limitations requiring long-term services and supports are at highest risk for poor outcomes and high health care expenditures.

"For these individuals to achieve better health, providers must be able to connect their patients to social supports and human services ...