Evaluation of Programs of Coordinated Care and Disease Management

This is a Congressionally mandated study. In the original study, 16 demonstration programs provided care coordination services to beneficiaries with chronic illness in Medicare's fee-for-service program. A five-year CMS-funded study tested whether the programs can improve patients' use of medical services, improve patients' outcomes and satisfaction with care, and reduce Medicare costs. The study also assessed physicians' satisfaction with the programs. In 2008 Congress extended the project for two of the original programs--Mercy Medical Center - North Iowa and Health Quality Partners in Pennsylvania--and they will enroll Medicare beneficiaries and provide care coordination services into the spring of 2010.