Aug 9 2011
Geisinger Health System has completed the Centers for Medicare Services' (CMS) five-year Physician Group Practice (PGP) demonstration project, again achieving 100 percent on the program's quality measures. The health system is the only one of the 10 organizations to do so for the last four years of the demonstration. Following the PGP demonstration, which ended in March 2010, Geisinger is also participating in a second PGP demonstration, which runs through December 2012.
"All 10 organizations involved in the demonstration achieved amazing quality results," said Thomas Graf, M.D., associate chief medical officer, Population Health; chairman, Community Practice, Geisinger Health System. "By focusing on improving quality, we were able to reduce the total costs of treating Medicare beneficiaries. Our costs at Geisinger rose only 1.4 percent, compared to the typical 4 to 6 percent increase observed nationwide."
Geisinger's goal is to continually improve patient quality while appropriately managing and decreasing costs.
Although Geisinger qualified for shared savings in years three and four of the program, the cap on risk score growth and the impact of the null group impacted the financial model and Geisinger's ability to generate shared savings in year five. CMS has used lessons learned from the initial PGP Demonstration and worked collaboratively with the sites to design the PGP Transition Demonstration.
"We are confident in our ongoing ability to provide excellent value for the people we serve - high-quality care with decreased costs -- and look forward to our continued participation with the PGP Transitions Demonstration," added Graf.
Source: Geisinger Health System
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