Medicaid Innovation Collaborative to address health needs

The Illinois Department of Health and Family Services (HFS) has announced that $750 million in funding is being made available over a five year period to focus on community needs, with an emphasis on addressing social and structural determinants of health. The funding will look to improve health and wellness for individuals and communities, tailor solutions to meet the unique needs of specific communities, and invest in projects that improve outcomes, decrease disparities, and are sustainable over time.

In response to this opportunity,OSF HealthCare, in partnership withUI Health Mile Square Health Center(Chicago, IL),Heartland Health Services(Peoria, IL),Chestnut Health Systems, Inc.(Bloomington, IL),Eagle View Community Health System, Inc.(Oquawka, IL), andAunt Martha’s Health Center(Danville, IL) has applied for over $137 million in state of Illinois Medicaid Transformation funding to be used to support the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative, which will focus on the unmet health needs of some of the most vulnerable populations in Illinois.

The collaboration of Medicaid providers will build a layered approach to care that allows for scarce resources to be maximized in addressing systematic obstacles to better health. The collaborative will utilize the latest tools and techniques in telehealth medicine, pairing them with on-the-ground community-based programs delivered by the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) partners and local community-based organizations (CBOs), creating scalable solutions that can improve access and quality of care for Medicaid patients throughout the state.

By partnering with a combination of FQHCs, CBOs, and other community groups, this collaborative will create an approach to health care delivery that is genuinely responsive to the needs of local communities being served.

在COVID-19大流行初期，作为全州大流行卫生工作者(PHW)项目的开发者，OSF OnCall数字卫生工作中获得的创新技术和知识将为新举措奠定基础。利用包括医生、护士、药剂师和健康教练在内的集中护理人员团队，以及社区一级的资源，预计在未来五年内将向医疗补助计划受益人提供100多万个额外的护理接触点。

"OSF HealthCare will support innovative digital models enabling a new level of care for our most vulnerable populations. The FQHCs, using community health workers supported with digital tools and AI technology, will address social determinants of health and the health disparities most prevalent in the communities they serve," explains Michelle Conger, CEO of OSF Digital Health. "While OSF HealthCare is the lead entity applying for the Medicaid transformation dollars, our partner entities will be the face of the collaboration in the community."

Highlights of the Medicaid Innovation Collaborative:

• Potential for approximately 170 new health care jobs spread across the service area
• 1 million episodes of care for Medicaid patients over a 5 year period
• Coverage across a wide geography, with services delivered to potentially up to a third of the state
• Partnership between 5 FQHCs, a dozen-plus CBOs, and three minority-owned vendors
• Solutions provided to address the unmet health needs of vulnerable populations related to behavioral health, mom-baby wellness, and chronic disease management
• 关怀将以尊重协作服务的社区的方式提供，在文化上是适当的，并认识到在边缘化社区仍然存在的挑战和障碍。

"The Medicaid Innovation Collaborative builds off of every partner's strength," says Henry Taylor, president and CEO of UI Health Mile Square Health Center in Chicago, a network of community-based clinics. "For OSF HealthCare, it is their experience with innovation, analytics, and the deployment of new digital technologies to improve quality and access to care. For us, an FQHC partner, it is our existing relationships with the Medicaid population, our focus on care coordination, and the ability to understand the concerns of the populations we are serving."

In addition to creating greater access to care via the OSF OnCall platform, the collaborative will take immediate steps to improve local access to care.

"The American Dental Association recognizes that the mouth is a window into the health of the body. The Collaborative will significantly expand dental care for Medicaid patients in the Bloomington-Normal area," said David A. Sharar, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Chestnut Health Systems in Bloomington, Ill. "A long-term goal is to expand dental care and improve oral health for patients in counties throughout Illinois."

In the city of Peoria, the collaborative will establish sites in partnership with homeless shelters and other providers of homeless services. These sites are where Community Health Workers can conduct outreach to Medicaid patients, provide digital health services and establish a medical home to address their health needs and provide whatever supportive services possible to manage their social determinants of health.

合作还将着眼于解决伊利诺伊州农村地区的交通问题，这仍然是获得医疗保健的最大障碍之一，计划为有需要的医疗补助患者提供交通服务。一个合作伙伴将拥有一辆实际的面包车以方便运输，而所有服务于农村社区的合作伙伴将部署数字化的社区卫生工作者，这些工作者将作为与FQHC和OSF医疗保健的移动/数字链接。

HFS is currently accepting public comments about this and other Medicaid Transformation proposals on itswebsite直到4月30日。