The Serious Illness Care Program will launch on February 1, 2021. This new program supports Blue Advantage® patients with serious illnesses and the providers who care for them. It will improve the quality of life for both patients and their caregivers.
About 80 percent of crisis emergency department visits and hospitalizations (excluding pneumonia) are due to exacerbation of pre-existing and chronic conditions, such as shortness of breath in COPD or chest pain in cardiac illness. A recent study found that two-thirds of medical practices lack systems to assess patients’ wishes or adequately assess symptom burden.* These gaps in care leave patients and families with few viable options for relief of symptoms and stresses except to call 911 or visit an emergency department.
The Serious Illness Care Program promotes an extra layer of disease-directed therapy to help fill these gaps. It reduces healthcare utilization because it addresses the root causes of acute care utilization—poorly managed pain and symptoms as well as overwhelming caregiver stress and burden.
Care through this program occurs on a continuum – from diagnosis to the end of life. It is not necessary for a patient to withdraw from therapy or to have a DNR status in order to participate.
In addition to patient and caregiver satisfaction, we will be monitoring hospital admissions/readmissions, emergency department visits and the number of days on hospice.
A patient who has received care from a physician participating in the Serious Illness Care Pilot Program will receive a survey regarding his or her care. The survey can be completed by the patient or caregiver.
