Providence — January 2018 — PACE Organization of Rhode Island (PACE®) announced it has signed a contract with members of CharterCARE Health Partners through the PACE Community Based Primary Care Physician (CBPCP) program.
PACE is a unique health plan that cares for adults age 55 and older with a dedicated team of doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, van drivers and more. For twelve years, this model has served thousands of families throughout Rhode Island who have made the change over to comprehensive team-based care for loved ones who want to age with dignity in their homes. Traditionally this model requires patients to transition from their existing primary care provider to a PACE provider. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CBPCP program now allows community based physicians to contract with PACE programs to maintain their PACE patients.
Through this new program, PACE is partnering with select physicians in CharterCARE Health Partners, which includes Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. These physicians, Dr. John Stoukides, Dr. Rebecca Brown, Dr. Keya Malhotra, and Dr. Kristine Mortel, will work with the team at PACE to provide wrap-around care for eligible older adults. This partnership will extend awareness of PACE to patients who are eligible, and committed to keeping these doctors as their primary care providers.
“This is an innovative next step in the PACE model,” stated PACE CEO Joan Kwiatkowski. “This program is designed to put our participants health, wellbeing, and medical wishes at the core of all we do. When an enrollee has a strong relationship with their primary care provider, we want to respect and build on that relationship – and now thanks to this new program, and these pioneering doctors at CharterCARE Health Partners – we can spread the message and the benefits of PACE to many more older adults who need the help PACE can provide.”
“We are pleased that our physicians are now direct partners with PACE,” said CharterCARE CEO John Holiver. “These doctors understand that for many older, chronically ill adults there are a multitude of needs that must be met to be successful in achieving health care goals. This program allows our doctors work closely with PACE providers and enhance their efforts at creative, quality care for older Rhode Islanders.”
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About PACE®
PACE® offers full-service health care and coverage serving adults 55 and older who have chronic health needs and want to live at home. PACE® health care and support services include primary care, access to specialists, prescription drugs and durable medical equipment, 24-hour emergency services, homecare, transportation to adult day centers and other medical appointments, meals, and physical, speech, occupational and respiratory therapies. For more information, visit www.pace-ri.org.
About CharterCARE Health Partners®
CharterCARE Health Partners is a coordinated regional care network comprised of two acute care hospitals, a regional cancer center, a rehabilitation center, a community primary care center, a home health services company, an IPA, and a large physician group practice. The coordinated regional care model allows the group to deliver services to patients at multiple levels of care, at the right time and place and at lower costs. This way of organizing and delivering health care services enables CharterCARE to optimize population health management strategies in Rhode Island.
