Senior-Focused Primary Care Organizations Increase Access for Medicare Advantage Members, Especially Underserved Groups

On Sept. 3, 2024, our Humana Healthcare Research team, in collaboration with a leading researcher and professor from Harvard University, released a groundbreaking study in Health Affairs on the effectiveness of senior-focused primary care. This study is the first of its size and scope in analyzing senior-focused primary care organizations. Key findings include:

• Better access to healthcare: Patients of value-based, senior-focused primary care organizations received 17% more primary care visits.
• Reduced health disparities: Senior-focused primary care organizations ­­­narrowed racial and socioeconomic disparities, as Black and low-income beneficiaries had 39% and 21% more primary care visits, respectively.
• Better health outcomes: While more research is needed, patients of senior-focused primary care organizations may benefit from better health outcomes. These benefits include more recommended cancer screenings, controlled blood pressure, improved medication adherence and lower likelihood of poorly controlled diabetes. As a result, senior-focused primary care patients had 11% fewer emergency department visits, 6% fewer hospitalizations, and were 10% less likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days.

Read more: Health Affairs