This research, funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), evaluates opportunities for Medicare patients to join integrated care management systems. It focuses on the disease management program structure, processes of care, provider acceptance, costs, and patient outcomes including hospitalization, mortality, satisfaction and quality of life.
The ESRD Disease Management Demonstration, to be evaluated by URREA, will feature two distinct payment models: a capitation payment system and a fee-for-service system. The awardees may include dialysis providers, disease management organizations, managed care plan providers, and integrated health systems. The evaluation of the demonstration will be lead by URREA in collaboration with researchers from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the Lewin Group, and the University of Michigan.
Awards to the demonstration sites are expected in early 2004. The demonstration will last four years.
The University Renal Research and Education Association (URREA) is a not-for-profit organization with a unique combination of expertise in the design and execution of research studies including primary data collection and the development of large clinical databases and state-of-the-art statistical analyses.