Vermont’s Blueprint for Health is working to bend the curve in health care costs, saving up to 19 percent in annual, per-capita costs while delivering better care, according to the Blueprint for Health annual report released today.In 2012, participants in the Blueprint model tended to have lower total health care expenditures compared to those not included in the model. Total annual expenditures were 19 percent lower for each commercially insured Blueprint participant in the 1-17 age group and 11 percent lower for each participant in the 18-64 age group.
Craig Jones, Executive Director of the Blueprint for Health, said, ‘Working together with primary care providers and local communities around the state, we are building a more sensible and integrated health system. The work that has been done in these communities can serve as a foundation for reforms to improve the health of Vermonters and bend the cost curve. The results in this report suggest that progress is being made.’
Key to Vermont’s Health Reform, the Blueprint has worked with medical and health and human services providers to improve primary care and build networks of community health teams. Over 120 primary care practices serving more than 500,000 Vermonters are involved in the Blueprint and have achieved nationally recognized as Patient-Centered Medical Homes.
The medical home is an approach to delivering and organizing primary care that helps achieve the goals of the Triple Aim: improve the experience of care, improve the health of populations, and reduce per capita costs of health care. Vermonters benefit from increased prevention services and better management of chronic conditions.
The report ‘ a matched comparison study involving over 250,000 Vermonters ‘ evaluated the impact on the total costs of health care and rates of effective and preventative services for Blueprint participants. In comparison to Vermonters who had primary care as usual, the Blueprint participants had:
Lower per capita health care costs
Higher rates of screening for cancer, well child visits, and management of diabetes, and
Increased use of social and human services rather than health care
The full report can be found at http://hcr.vermont.gov/sites/hcr/files/pdfs/VTBlueprintforHealthAnnualRe....