Physicians Recruit Patients for Medicare Disease Management Program
California physicians have begun to recruit congestive heart failure patients for a Medicare disease management pilot program that will use home monitoring equipment to track patients' weight and other disease symptoms, the Stockton Record reports. Patients will weigh themselves twice a day and answer three yes-or-no questions on their keypads, which are connected to a telephone line, after each weigh-in. The information then will be transmitted over a phone line to a call center of nurses, who notify patients of changes to their medication regimens or advise them to see a doctor. The three-year program is intended to cover 15,000 seniors in California and Arizona and could be expanded nationwide if successful. Patients will receive free monitoring equipment and prescription drug coverage with copayments of $5 to $35, a benefit that is not available to fee-for-service Medicare patients (Goldeen, Stockton Record, 5/25).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.