In the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled – nearly one-third of the U.S. population over the age of 65 has diabetes. People with diabetes are at a significantly higher risk of serious health conditions like heart, eye and kidney disease. Having simple and convenient access to diagnostic testing, care planning and complex condition education offers promising opportunities for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and their members.
In addition to Signfiy’s In-Home Health Evaluation offering, a new diabetes Focused Visit, designed for health plan members with diabetes, will be available to plans starting in the fall of 2024. These diabetes Focused Visits are designed to be supplementary to a doctor's office visit, help close quality care gaps, slow chronic disease progression with education and customized care planning, and reduce hospitalizations and readmissions – all from the convenience and comfort of a health plan member’s home.
What is an In-Home Health Evaluation?
Backed by innovative technology and lasting up to an hour, Signify Health’s In-Home Health Evaluations (IHE) are a whole-person assessment that can include:
- A review of members’ medical, social and family history,
- A comprehensive physical exam,
- A medication review,
- Mental health screening,
- Fall risk screening,
- Social determinants of health evaluation, and,
- Condition-specific diagnostic testing that is recommended and can be included in a member’s health plan
These IHE assessments are conducted by licensed clinicians in-person or virtually by video and do not replace regular doctor appointments or annual wellness visits but rather are complementary and supplementary to a doctor's office visit. During an IHE, members have extra time to discuss their health care concerns, have their questions answered, have important preventive and diagnostic screenings and receive additional education to better understand their health care needs. Following each IHE, health plan members receive a personalized care plan to share with their primary care provider (PCP). And, the results from the IHE are shared with the health plan member's PCP, who can assess the member's healthcare needs at the next PCP appointment..
Why be concerned about diabetes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diabetes is one of the most serious public health issues our nation has ever faced. Alarmingly, they recently estimated that around 38.4 million Americans have diabetes (11.6% of the U.S. population) and 8.7 million of those do not know they have the disease. It is also estimated that an additional 27.2 million people aged 65 years or older are prediabetic - a major risk factor for Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a complicated, chronic health condition that can be difficult to manage, and if you are diabetic, you have a significantly higher risk of serious health conditions, including stroke, blindness, kidney disease and other life-altering conditions. Diabetes is often called the silent epidemic because it doesn’t always have symptoms that cause pain or discomfort. As a result, many individuals who have been diagnosed do not follow recommended monitoring or treatment – putting them at similar risk levels as those who do not know they have the disease.
Among Medicare beneficiaries 65 years of age and older with type 2 diabetes, the higher costs of treatment are often tied to common complications, including heart disease, stroke, blindness and associated eye problems, kidney disease, nerve damage (neuropathy), and amputations. 61% of costs associated with diabetes in adults aged 65 and older are primarily paid by Medicare.
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The Diabetes Focused Visit
When addressing ways to best manage complex, chronic conditions like diabetes, condition Focused Visits are an additional tool that supplements the care members get from their doctor and can help improve a member's understanding of how to control their diabetes. Better control and adherence to care plans can prevent hospitalizations and readmissions. Signify Health is expanding our portfolio of services to include condition Focused Visits, beginning with the diabetes Focused Visit.
According to Heidi Schwarzwald, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Signify Health, “We’re working closely with health plans to make it as simple and convenient as possible to provide members with health screenings and information they can use to improve their health and receive the preventive care they need. Our condition Focused Visits allow us to do more for health plan members who manage complicated, chronic conditions.”
As part of the diabetes Focused Visit, Signify Health clinicians bring diagnostic testing to health plan members’ homes where they can capture a complete understanding of the member’s diabetic health status, including diabetes screenings such as:
- Diabetic Eye Exam (DEE) for diabetic retinopathy and other eye conditions screening
- Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) for chronic kidney disease screening
- Urine albumin-creatinine ratio (uACR) for chronic kidney disease screening
- Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) for average blood sugar measurement
- Blood pressure testing for cardiovascular screening
These screenings and targeted education which include care planning and individual action steps give members information and tools to better manage their blood sugar and diabetes. Like IHEs, all data and a visit summary are shared with the health plan member’s primary care provider for further care.
Signify Health’s Focused Visits reinforce our commitment to doing more for members in the home, including leveraging the immense amount of data collected during the IHE to identify opportunities to further support health plan members in their health care journeys and to help members connect to outpatient services and other resources. Last year, Signify was able to positively impact more than 10 million quality care gaps by enabling in-home access to innovative, high-value services to detect health conditions, close quality gaps, increase member satisfaction scores, impact Star ratings, and facilitate care coordination.
Supporting better member health with quality outcomes
Condition Focused Visits are one way Signify Health is furthering its mission to support better member health in the home, and encourage members to take a more active role in understanding and engaging with their health care. The personalized visit can help clinicians identify and discuss critical components of the member's individualized care needs and prompt members to manage their conditions and engage with preventive care.
Learn more
Learn more about Signify Health visit our website and contact us here.
1. https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/priorities/diabetes-interventions.html#:~:text=Preventing%20diabetes%20complications&text=Keeping%20diabetes%20under%20control%20through,and%20nerve%20disease%20by%2040%25
2. https://www.upmc.com/media/news/070722-diabetes-medicare-advantage-plans
3.https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/priorities/diabetes-interventions.html#:~:text=Preventing%20diabetes%20complications&text=Keeping%20diabetes%20under%20control%20through,and%20nerve%20disease%20by%2040%25
4. https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/priorities/diabetes-interventions.html#:~:text=Preventing%20diabetes%20complications&text=Keeping%20diabetes%20under%20control%20through,and%20nerve%20disease%20by%2040%25