Nurse.com News – Saturday March 17, 2012
“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced 23 additional participants in the Community-based Care Transitions Program, through which organizations work with local hospitals and other healthcare and social service providers to support Medicare patients at high risk of being readmitted to the hospital while transitioning from hospital stays to their homes, a nursing home or other care setting.
The 23 sites — either community-based organizations or acute care hospitals that partner with CBOs — join seven sites that already had been part of the program. “We are very excited to have these 23 sites join our efforts to improve opportunities for patients to continue to make gains after they leave the hospital,” Marilyn Tavenner, RN, BSN, MHA, CMS acting administrator, said in a news release. “I’ve seen the very real difference that support from organizations like our partners in the Community-based Care Transitions Program can make to people’s post-hospital care and their health.”
CCTP is designed specifically to provide support for high-risk Medicare beneficiaries following a hospital discharge. The 23 sites will work with CMS and local hospitals to provide support for patients as they move from hospitals to new settings, including skilled nursing facilities and home.
Community organizations will help these patients stay in contact with their physicians to ensure their questions are answered and that they are taking necessary medications. The announcement will support more than 126 local hospitals and help more than 223,000 Medicare beneficiaries in 19 states across the country, according to CMS.
CCTP is part of the Partnership for Patients, a public-private partnership aiming to cut preventable errors in hospitals by 40% and reduce preventable hospital readmissions by 20% over a three-year period. As part of their two-year agreement with the CMS Innovation Center, each organization will be paid a flat fee for helping to coordinate patient care after a hospital stay for each Medicare beneficiary who is at high risk for readmission to the hospital.
This is the second round of CCTP participants announced since the program launched in April 2011. Under the Affordable Care Act, the program may spend up to $500 million over five years.
With this round of agreements, CMS has committed half of the $500 million allocated to CCTP. The Innovation Center continues to accept applications as long as funding is available.
For more information on the application process and the program, visit https://go.cms.gov/mQm5WF. ”
**NOTE: ONLY SITE IN CALIFORNIA RECENTLY ADDED IS IN MARIN COUNTY