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Simply Delivered Meals for ME

An Effective Practice

Description

Simply delivered for ME delivers up to 7 meals a week, providing nutritionally balanced meals for individuals who are age 60 or above or are under 60 and on SSDI. This program was offered by the Maine Medical Center on a voluntary basis to high-risk Medicare patients who were enrolled in a Community-based Care transition program. Caregivers were also allowed to participate. Patients received up to a 7-day free meal supply delivered weekly to their homes over a 24-month period.This program was utilized and then evaluated after the 2 year period.

Goal / Mission

The goal of this specialized meal delivery program called Simply Delivered for ME (SDM) was to improve care and reduce 30-day hospital readmission rates for those eligible for the program.

Results / Accomplishments

The use of Simply Delivered for ME (SDM) was associated with a 38% decreased rate of 30-day readmissions compared to baseline for those individuals also enrolled in the Community-based Care Transition Program (CCTP). These participants also experienced a readmission rate 16.3% lower than that for those who received CCTP alone.
Assuming an average cost per readmission of $16,320 per high-risk patient, the estimated ROI for adding SDM to the CCTP program was 387%, or a benefit-cost ratio of $3.87 for every $1.00 spent.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
The Main medical Center and Southern main Agency on Aging
Primary Contact
Nancy Connelly
Southern Maine Agency on Aging
136 U.S. Route One
Scarborough, ME 04074
nconnelly@smaaa.org
Topics
Health / Health Care Access & Quality
Organization(s)
The Main medical Center and Southern main Agency on Aging
Source
https://europepmc.org/article/med/29939505
Location
Maine
For more details
Kansas Health Matters