ONC Keynote: $1B up for grabs in healthcare innovation challenge

The Obama Administration announced Nov. 14 that $1 billion of healthcare reform funds will go toward innovation programs aimed at creating new jobs, improving patient care and reducing healthcare costs. Three days later, Rick Gilfillan, MD, acting director of the 14-month-old Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center, provided details on how healthcare IT professionals can claim a piece of the pie for their respective institutions.

In a nutshell: They’ll have to compete for it.

“We couldn't just do a rifle shot and say, 'Bang, here’s your contract,'” said Gilfillan, whose remarks came during his keynote address at the annual meeting of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) in Washington Nov. 17. “We need to do this through a competitive process. So the Healthcare Innovation Challenge is a way to go out there with what we call a very broad funnel. Give us what you've got. Give us the best ideas you have.”

Around 1,000 ONC grant recipients were in attendance for the event, along with an untallied audience virtually attending online, according to the ONC.

Gilfillan said the objectives of the challenge are to engage a broad set of innovative partners across the country and to support healthcare entities able to deploy effective new care models within six months of receiving the award monies. “Tell us about the model, tell us about the new scales [of economy], what kinds of new workers are going to be necessary to accomplish and create the model that you're proposing to deliver the results that we're after,” he said before stressing that workforce development is a top priority and reiterating, with some drama: “A billion dollars is on the table.”

Gilfillan also discussed several “activity suites” already underway at the innovation center. These include an innovation advisors program, an accountable care organization (ACO) pioneer program, a bundled acute care payments program, a comprehensive primary care initiative and a “duals” program aimed at streamlining service to the nine million Americans who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

“They account for almost 40 percent of the entire spend for Medicare and Medicaid,” said Gilfillan. “That's $400 billion annually. They are currently paid for in a system where the state has some responsibilities. The incentives diverged and led the [payor] entities in two different directions. We've announced programs to bring together incentives to unify them through a couple of different models.”

Returning to the innovation challenge, Gilfillan pointed out that letters of intent to enter are due by Dec. 19. Applications must be filed by Jan. 27. The first awards are to be paid out in March.

Gilfillan closed his presentation by offering something of a pep talk.

Unlike the automobile industry in Detroit, he said, “We can't wait 30 years to get healthcare right. It's too important. People need it every day. ... We need you all to be successful in your mission get folks online, capable of doing meaningful use of electronic health records. It's not about getting technology installed. It is about getting the tools in place to coordinate care and to improve practice. That’s a critical foundation for delivering the outcomes that we are all after.

“You folks will be out there leading the way, leading the charge, showing us where we need to go and helping other people get there through all the work you're doing. I think we can actually move America in a rapid way into that future world of a people-centered, family-centered healthcare system that's sustainable for all.”

For details on entering the innovation challenge, click here.