Health beat: Care guides just what doctor ordered

[Star Tribune, August 11, 2013]

Five years ago, Dr. Richard Adair had what some might find a peculiar idea: Hire a cadre of personable but inexperienced workers, place them in medical clinics, and have them counsel chronically ill patients to help improve their health and cut their medical costs.

After a pilot program in 2008, Allina Health clinics in the Twin Cities launched a yearlong study funded primarily by the nonprofit Robina Foundation.

The results were reported this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine. In short, the experiment worked.Read the entire article at startribune.com.