Quality Outcomes

LIFE programs across the state are recognized as a high quality, low cost alternative for seniors.

1. LIFE reduces the need for costly long-term nursing home care.
   “Despite the fact that 100% of the PACE/LIFE participants were nursing facility eligible, the risk of being admitted to a nursing home long term following enrollment from the community is low." (Friedman, S.; Steinwachs, D.; Rathouz, P.; Burton.L.; &Mukamel, D. (2005). Characteristics predicting nursing home admission in the program of all-inclusive care for elderly people. The Gerontologist, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 157-166.)
2. PACE/LIFE prevents and/or significantly reduces preventable hospitalizations.
   PACE/LIFE enrollees had fewer hospital admissions, preventable hospital admissions, hospital days, emergency room visits, and preventable emergency room visits than a comparable population enrolled in the Wisconsin Partnership Program. (Kane, R. L.; Homyak, P.; Bershadsky, B; & Flood, S. (2006). Variations on a theme called PACE/LIFE. Journal of Gerontology Series A, Vol., 61, No. 7, pp. 689-693.)
3. LIFE is effective and efficient in treating individuals with multiple and complex health care needs.
   “LIFE was one of the three chronic care models identified that include processes that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of complex primary care.” (Boult, C. & Wieland, G.D. (2010). Comprehensive primary care for older patients with multiple chronic conditions: “Nobody rushes you through.” JAMA, Vol. 304, No. 17, pp. 1937-1943.)
4. LIFE participants live longer that enrollees in home- and community-based waiver program.
   Despite being older and more cognitively and functionally impaired than those in an aged and disabled waiver program, PACE/LIFE participants had a lower long-term mortality rate. When stratifying for mortality risk, “PACE/LIFE participants had a substantial long-term survival advantage compared with aged and disabled waiver clients into the fifth year of follow-up.” The benefit was most apparent in the moderate- to high-risk admissions, highlighting the importance of an integrated, team-managed medical home for older, more disabled participants, such as those in a PACE/LIFE program. (Wieland, D., Boland, R., Baskins, J., and Kinosian, B. (2010). Five-year survival in a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly compared with alternative institutional and home- and community-based care. J Gerontol A BiolSci Med Sci. July: 65(7), pp. 721-726.)