February 24, 2009 - McKesson Health Solutions, a business unit of McKesson Corp., today announced the launch of an Uncompensated Care Management Program, designed to decrease the amount of uncompensated care provided within hospitals.
McKesson is piloting the program with Baptist Health of Montgomery, AL. The pilot, branded CareAdvisor by Baptist Health, began September 15, 2008 at Baptist Medical Center South. McKesson’s service focuses on decreasing the amount of uncompensated care that health systems provide in the ED and inside the hospital by finding patients with chronic medical needs and working with them to receive outpatient primary care through a medical home. Outcomes include improving quality of medical care, better disease control, a reduction in overall costs, and more appropriate utilization of hospital resources.
“Through our Uncompensated Care Management Program we decrease the need for high cost, high risk uninsured patients to use the hospital for medical care. We assist these patients by helping them locate and use more appropriate healthcare resources,” said Ricardo Guggenheim, M.D., vice president, Care Management Strategy, McKesson Health Solutions.
McKesson’s Uncompensated Care Management Program focuses on:
• Analyzing and identifying uncompensated care opportunities to manage;
• Reducing uncompensated losses in the emergency department and inpatient settings;
• Lowering readmission rates and improving outcomes for the recently discharged;
• Improving quality;
• Eliminating gaps in care; and
• Generating return-on-investment.
The service helps health systems decrease the amount of uncompensated care through several strategies:
- Data supplied through case finding and assessment using McKesson software and triage services helps the CareAdvisor staff identify high cost, high risk patients – including those with documented chronic diseases and very high use of hospital resources within the past year – who will be actively managed.
- McKesson works with the health system to establish a medical home with primary care providers. The Baptist Health CareAdvisor case managers refer patients to its Family Medicine Residency program.
- CareAdvisor staff work with patients to resolve any barriers to medical care that they may have, including identifying health coverage options, pharmacy assistance programs, social services and transportation services. Patients sign a contract obligating them to uphold their responsibilities in the program, in exchange for these services.
For more information: www.mckesson.com
May 13, 2024 
