Via Christi: Team-based Care in Clinics Improves Outcomes, Reduces Cost

Now, the largest healthcare provider in Kansas is introducing the most effective element of the PCMH — team-based care — to all of its Via Christi Clinic locations and to other physician practices participating in its Healthier You Alliance in Accountable Care. “From the pilot project, we learned that team-based care is highly effective for improving the care we provide our patients, improving the patients’ experience, improving the lives of our physicians and reducing costs,” says Ed Hett, MD, Medical Director, New Models of Care for Via Christi. “So it meets all four goals of the Quadruple Aim.” Via Christi has pilot-tested the PCMH approach over the past three years in three Via Christi Clinic locations in Newton and west Wichita. In those clinics, the PCMH care model has lowered patients’ medical bills by keeping them healthy and helping them better manage chronic diseases. As a result, in 2013:

• The annual cost of care for patients in the PCMH pilot project was lowered by 6 percent.
• Patients’ avoidable emergency room visits were reduced by 15.1 percent.
• And their inpatient hospital costs were cut by 17.5 percent.