Basing a psychologist in a local doctor’s office improves health outcomes and saves about $860 per patient, per year. A Coordinated Care Organization pays for kids to play ‘The Good Behavior Game,’ in the hope it will stop them smoking and taking drugs when they’re older — and thus save the CCO millions. A Coordinated Care Organization is trying to improve health care outcomes and cut costs by simply giving pregnant women money to stop smoking. Chronically ill Jeremie Seals visited Oregon Health & Science University’s emergency department 15 times and had 11 patient admissions in 2011. In 2012, after he was targeted for this a program to help the chronically ill, he visited the ED 4 times and had 3 inpatient admissions. Rebecca Ramsey of CareOregon says those are significant savings – even after taking into account the $3500 it cost to have Lisa Pearlstein work with him one-on-one during 2012.
