Physician practices that serve higher proportions of high-need patients have lower health care costs, fewer hospital admissions, and fewer emergency room visits than physician practices that serve lower proportions of high-need patients.

This was the conclusion of researchers who analyzed four years of claims data for high-needs patients in Michigan.

The study also found some evidence that smaller medical practices are more effective in serving high-need patients than larger practices.

Private safety-net hospitals typically serve large numbers of high-need patients, many of them uninsured or insured by Medicare and Medicaid.

The study, “Outcomes For High-Needs Patients: Practices With A Higher Proportion Of These Patients Have An Edge,” was supported by the Commonwealth Fund, and is summarized by the fund here.  It was published here in the journal Health Affairs.