New Jersey

Members receiving care from a doctor who participates in a patient-centered program are scoring higher on quality care metrics – at a cost that is nine percent lower -- than those members at traditional doctor practices, according to the 2014 results of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey's patient-centered programs.

Among the many challenges faced by families of children with autism is how to coordinate behavioral treatment with other medical services.

That’s why the state Department of Health plans to fund studies of a new approach called “medical home,” in which an autistic child’s pediatrician works closely with behavioral and other specialists.

Primary-care practices and health insurers across the state are already adopting the “medical home” model as a way to better coordinate care.

Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney has unveiled a proposal for a pilot project that -- if successful -- could go a long way toward saving money on health benefits for state workers while keeping them healthy.

The pilot would start with as many as 60,000 of the 800,000 public workers in the state’s two major health insurance plans. Rather than a conventional fee-for-service model, the project is based on “patient-centered healthcare,” in which doctors are paid based on seeing a limited number of patients, with bonuses awarded for keeping those patients healthy.

New Jersey is among seven states nationwide in which Medicare is partnering with health insurance companies in a unique, four-year pilot program aimed at improving the delivery of primary medical care in America. And it's starting to show results: Medicare announced that the Comprehensive Primary Care initiative is having a positive impact on both the cost and the quality of care.

New Jersey taxpayers could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year and thousands of patients could have improved health and better quality of life if clinicians coordinated physical and mental health care, a new Rutgers University study says.

The report, produced by the Center for State Health Policy, found that more than a third of the $880 million in hospitalization costs in the 13 communities it studied were associated with behavioral health issues such as mental health disorders and substance use.