Advocates Say Medical Homes Will Improve Care, Save Money

New York’s 2012 budget passed at the end of last month, and government agencies are now working out many of the cost-cutting nuts-and-bolts they say will save billions of dollars.

Health officials estimate getting more people into so-called medical homes will save medicaid $33 million in the coming year and four times that much annually the next two years. These community health centers, outpatient hospital clinics or private practices where doctors, nurses and specialists coordinate patients' treatment. The goal: improve treatment, prevent hospital stays, save money.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah, in the Bronx last week touring a clinic that's been designated a medical home, said the state isn't setting up its own medical homes — it's providing incentives and hoping medical providers will set them up.

"Doctors should get paid more if they provide better care," Shah said. "And if patients are seen in a proper medical home setting, [doctors] will see, bottom line, their wallets grow thicker — or not shrink as fast."

Paying providers better so that they save the system money can lead to fewer unnecessary tests, but consumer advocates said it can also lead providers to cut corners.

Shah and supporters of medical homes said in this system patients can take the lead and direct providers to get the care they want.

To save that much money many more doctors and patients will have to enroll in Medical homes that avoid many, many hospitalizations.