Innovative healthcare for chronically ill older persons: Results of a national survey

Objective: To describe the origin, scope, operations, funding, and outcomes of innovative health- care programs for chronically ill older persons. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: A national expert panel nominated chronic illness programs they believed to be innovative and field tested. The directors of the 31 eligible programs provided descriptive information in 60-minute semistructured telephone interviews. Results: The innovative programs we surveyed tended to target their services to high-risk patients, use teams of providers to deliver care, designate providers to coordinate multiple components of complex care plans, and shift care from higher, to lower-cost environments and/or redesign the delivery of primary care. Conclusions: Recent innovations in healthcare programs hold considerable promise for improving the outcomes of chronic care, but most have yet to be rigorously evaluated.