A randomized, controlled pragmatic trial of telephonic medication therapy management to reduce hospitalization in home health patients.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a telephonic medication therapy management (MTM) service on reducing hospitalizations among home health patients.

Setting: Forty randomly selected, geographically diverse home health care centers in the United States.

Design: Two-stage, randomized, controlled trial with 60-day follow-up.

A national strategy to put accountable care into practice.

The concept of accountable care organizations (ACOs) has been set forth in recently enacted national health reform legislation as a strategy to address current shortcomings in the U.S. health care system.

Fostering accountable health care: moving forward in medicare.

To succeed, health care reform must slow spending growth while improving quality. We propose a new approach to help achieve more integrated and efficient care by fostering local organizational accountability for quality and costs through performance measurement and "shared savings" payment reform. The approach is practical and feasible: it is voluntary for providers, builds on current referral patterns, requires no change in benefits or lock-in for beneficiaries, and offers the possibility of sustained provider incomes even as total costs are constrained.