AHRQ showcases Medicaid innovations supporting medical homes
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ)'s latest issue of Health Care Innovations Exchange highlights three Medicaid initiatives that support medical homes.
The first innovation, “Public-Private Partnership Supports Medical Homes in Managing Medicaid Enrollees,” shares the experience of Community Care of North Carolina, which fostered the development of local, self-governing community health networks that provide care and disease management services, as well as participated in statewide and local quality improvement initiatives. The effort significantly improved the quality of care of those with asthma and diabetes, as well as lowered costs.
The second innovation, “State Medicaid Program Pays Additional Fee for Integrated Care,” looks at the experience of the Missouri Medicaid Health Home program. It provided a per-member-per-month payment to medical homes, and adopted an integrated staffing model to meet patients’ medical and behavioral health needs. Since implementation, the health homes have provided the vast majority of enrollees with access to needed medications, improved performance on various process and outcome measures related to management of chronic conditions, and reduced utilization and cost, according to AHRQ.
The third innovation, “Accountable Care Collaborative Provides Coordinated Care to Medicaid Beneficiaries,” discusses the Colorado Accountable Care Collaborative, in which the state Medicaid agency contracts with regional organizations to support primary care-led medical homes. The state also contracts with an outside vendor that assists with beneficiary assignment to medical homes and with data collection, analysis and reporting to support the regional organizations and medical homes in coordinating care and managing population health. The collaborative has improved access to coordinated care for beneficiaries and contributed to a reduction in emergency department visits, saving the state about $6 million.
Locate the issue here.