Study: 'Guided care' boosts satisfaction

Physicians who provided "Guided Care," a primary care model designed by Johns Hopkins University researchers for patients with multiple chronic conditions, reported higher levels of satisfaction with their patient/family communications and knowledge of their patients' clinical characteristics, according to a study by the university's Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The research, published in the July/August edition of Annals of Family Medicine, showed that patients tend to spend less time in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities and have fewer emergency room visits and home health episodes, producing an annual net savings for health insurers of $1,365 per patient.