The Accountable Care Coalition of Greater New York (ACCGNY) and AllazoHealth were awarded a significant grant by Pilot Health Tech NYC to address medication adherence among Medicare Fee-For-Service beneficiaries who are elderly or are intellectually/developmentally disabled (IDD).
With the proceeds of this generous grant, ACCGNY and AllazoHealth will launch a pilot program aimed at improving adherence to medication regimens and reducing medical costs for Medicare beneficiaries who have hypertension, epilepsy, heart failure, diabetes and/or hyperlipidemia. Medication adherence is a critical issue as non-adherent patients may experience dramatically lower quality of life and incur significantly higher medical costs. On an individual basis, annual spending for non-adherent patients with hypertension and diabetes is almost $4,000 greater than patients who adhere to their prescriptions, according to respected researchers (1).
ACCGNY is one of the nation’s first Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to focus on the needs of adults with IDD. ACCGNY is a partnership between Collaborative Health Systems (CHS), the New York Integrated Network for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, LLC (NYIN), Queens County IPA and 10 other developmental disabilities health services providers across New York. AllazoHealth is a predictive analytics firm whose AllazoEngine anticipates which patients are at risk of not taking their medications and predicts which medication adherence interventions will best influence individual patients’ behavior.
The pilot program will use a combination of medication adherence interventions targeted by the AllazoEngine. Beneficiaries and their caregivers will receive various types of targeted interventions via calls and face-to-face interactions. “This proactive and individualized intervention program is expected to increase medication adherence and reduce hospitalizations and readmissions,” said Marco Damiani, Chairman, Accountable Care Coalition of Greater New York.
AllazoHealth CEO Clifford Jones said, “We are excited to work with ACCGNY, a leader in the coordinated care of patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This project will demonstrate our capabilities of positively impacting medication adherence for an elderly population and will allow us to expand our services to IDD patients, a population which has historically been underserved by medication adherence solutions.”
Gabriel Luft, Executive Director of ACCGNY said, “Leveraging AllazoHealth’s industry leading solution is expected to improve medication adherence for our elderly beneficiaries and set a new benchmark for the care of IDD patients. We look forward to beginning this pilot project and being at the forefront of medication adherence with AllazoHealth.”
Richard A. Barasch, CEO of Universal American, parent company of CHS, commented, “We entered this ACO partnership with the goal of developing programs for the unique population that ACCGNY serves. This pilot program with AllazoHealth is another way we can reach Medicare beneficiaries, especially those with IDD, and keep them positively engaged in their health.”
About Collaborative Health Systems
Collaborative Health Systems (CHS) is a member of the Universal American Corp. (NYSE:UAM) family of healthcare companies. CHS partners with providers throughout the country in the development of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and currently operates 34 Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs. CHS provides a range of care coordination, analytics and reporting, technology and other administrative services to enable physicians and other healthcare professionals to deliver improved care, improved health and lower healthcare costs to their patients. For more information, visit http://www.collaborativehealthsystems.com.
About Accountable Care Coalition of Greater New York (ACCGNY)
ACCGNY is an Accountable Care Organization formed in partnership with CHS, the New York Integrated Network for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, LLC (NYIN), 10 other developmental disabilities health services providers, and the Queens County IPA, LLC (QCIPA). ACCGNY spans a regional service area across New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and Upstate New York. For more information, visit http://accgreaterny.com.
About AllazoHealth
AllazoHealth is a predictive analytics firm that tackles the problem of medication non-adherence. Its AllazoEngine anticipates which patients are at risk of not taking their medications and predicts which medication adherence interventions will best influence individual patients’ behavior. AllazoHealth provides its services to PBMs, health insurers, ACOs, and providers both as a stand-alone analytics solution and as a full-service medication adherence solution including the delivery of interventions. For more information, visit http://www.allazohealth.com.
Source: (1) Roebuck MC, Liberman, JN, Gemmill-Toyama M. Brennan TA. Medication Adherence Leads to Lower Health Care Use and Costs Despite Increased Drug Spending. Health Affairs. Jan 2011; 30: 191-99.
Contacts:
Sarah Bell, 914-597-2908
