Roger C. Lipitz Center to offer free Guided Care training and tools for ACOs

The Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will offer free training and technical assistance for organizations that seek to use the Guided Care model to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Shared Savings Program to improve care quality and reduce costs for Medicare beneficiaries and is now accepting applications for an April 2012 launch as part of the Affordable Care Act. The free assistance is made possible by a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation.

Guided Care is a model of comprehensive primary care in which a registered nurse, co-located in a primary care practice, partners with 2-5 physicians and other team members to provide coordinated, patient-centered, cost-effective care to 50-60 patients with multiple chronic conditions. A three-year, multi-site, cluster-randomized controlled trial showed that, compared to traditional care, Guided Care significantly improved the quality of patients' care and physicians' satisfaction with chronic care. Results also include a reduction in the use of expensive services, especially in well-managed health care delivery systems.

"The Guided Care model can help Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) serve chronically ill adults," said Chad Boult, MD, MPH, MBA, leader of the multidisciplinary team that developed Guided Care and a professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management. "We have been testing and perfecting Guided Care for nearly 10 years, and we are pleased to assist health care providers improve the quality, efficiency and outcomes of care for their high-risk patients."

The Medicare Shared Savings Program incentivizes hospitals and doctors to work together to improve the quality and efficiency of health care. Organizations that meet quality targets will get to share in the program's cost savings.

A limited supply of the following resources is available for free to organizations that plan to implement the principles of Guided Care as they become ACOs:
•An online course for nurses. This six-week, 40-hour, web-based course prepares registered nurses to become Guided Care Nurses. It features self-paced modules, live webinars and support from expert faculty. After passing an online exam, nurses receive a "Certificate in Guided Care Nursing" from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The course is offered by the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing.
•An implementation manual titled "Guided Care: A New Nurse-Physician Partnership in Chronic Care" provides detailed, practical information and advice on assessing practice readiness, preparing to launch, providing and managing Guided Care.
•An orientation booklet for patients and families titled "Transformation: A Family's Guide to Chronic Care, Guided Care, and Hope," that describes what Guided Care is and how it can help them.

Source: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health