One Colorado community may hold the answer to the health care reform puzzle. A national study of the treatment of 12 chronic diseases found that Grand Junction offered the most cost-effective delivery of Medicare services in the country, the Denver Post reports this morning. The same study found that the average number of days in the hospital for those patients was a third of the national average. Central to the program's success: when patients are released from the hospital, health care teams make sure patients take medications and intervene early when problems develop. "These efforts cut hospital readmission rates for Medicate patients by two-thirds over the national average, resulting in huge savings," writes reporter Michael Riley.
These stunning results haven't escaped attention. The nation's media has descended as the health care reform debate heats up.
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