Shawn Bloom, President and CEO of the National PACE Association is joined by Dr. Pamela Cacchione, a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner with geropsychiatric expertise, to discuss the future of the PACE program.
Dr. Cacchione is currently a Health & Aging Policy Fellow, a fellowship program sponsored by the John A. Hartford Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies. Dr. Cacchione’s policy interest is the PACE program, and her fellowship is focused on the PACE Innovation Act.
The PACE Innovation Act of 2015 is intended to expand the model for additional populations, including those under the age of 55 and those who do not qualify for a nursing home level of care. Public comments were due in February of 2017, and Dr. Cacchione is now working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to organize and synthesize these comments to inform possible development of a PACE-like model, provisionally named “Person Centered Community Care” or P3C to provide care for one population of focus.
Shawn Bloom adds that PACE has demonstrated improved quality of care through a core of team communication across care settings, by picking up on changes in a PACE participant early and intervening.
Other outcomes include improved health status and quality of life, lower mortality rates, increased choice in how time is spent, and greater confidence in dealing with life’s problems as one ages. Future goals for PACE are to continue to expand into states and communities currently without PACE services, while also expanding the model to include other populations who would benefit from services.
Show originally aired May 22, 2017
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