July 11, 2018
Dive
Brief:
- Medtronic
and UnitedHealthcare said first-year results from a value-based care pact
for patients with diabetes showed a 27% reduction in the rate of
preventable hospital admissions for Medtronic insulin pump users, compared
with patients injecting insulin multiple times per day.
- The
analysis included 6,000 plan members using either standalone insulin pumps
or pumps integrated with continuous glucose monitors. The first-year data
covered July 2016 through June 2017 in the multiyear initiative between
the biggest U.S. health insurer and largest medical device maker.
- UnitedHealthcare and
Medtronic said their diabetes partnership lowered costs in the first year
but did not disclose the amount of
savings. UnitedHealthcare said its total payments to physicians
and hospitals tied to value-based arrangements have grown in the last
three years to $65 billion. The insurer expects that figure to reach $75
billion by the end of 2020.
Dive
Insight:
Health
insurers such as UnitedHealthcare are
developing value-based programs that
reimburse providers or manufacturers based on patient care outcomes rather than
volume of services.
The
programs are particularly attractive for high-cost diseases. The cost of
diabetes rose 26% over a five-year period from 2012 to 2017, according to the
American Diabetes Association.
CMS
backs value-based care and has already converted 30% of its fee-for-service
Medicare payments to such models.
Medtronic
CEO Omar Ishrak was an early champion of value-based arrangements and has forged a number of partnershipswith
organizations pursuing similar efforts. The medical device maker last year
entered into an outcomes-based agreement with Aetna similar
to its partnership with UnitedHealthcare that ties part of the company’s
reimbursement to meeting clinical goals for patients who transition to
Medtronic insulin pump therapy.
Medtronic
predicted further outcome improvements with its latest insulin pump,
the MiniMed 670G system.
"These positive
results provide further evidence of the benefits of both automated insulin
delivery and of value-based healthcare models,"
said Hooman Hakami, president of the diabetes group at Medtronic in a
statement.
JDRF,
the diabetes research foundation, launched a campaign called
#Coverage2Control after the Medtronic-UnitedHealthcare
agreement was announced to advocate for patient choice in insulin pumps, among
other goals.
Peter
Pronovost, the chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare called the results
encouraging for the first year.
"We
will monitor patients using Medtronic pump therapies to ensure we continue to
see improved quality of care, fewer hospitalizations, and lower costs," he
said in a statement.
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