State Announces Newest Healthcare Provider to Join State's Transition to Coordinated Care

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) is announcing that Medical Home Network (MHN) has joined the state’s transition to greatly expanded coordinated care by 2015. As part of the “Care Coordination Innovations Project” led by HFS Director Julie Hamos, Medical Home Network is providing an innovative approach to integrated healthcare for 170,000 vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries on Chicago’s south and southwest sides.

“Medical Home Network represents the type of coordinated care model that we need to continue our transformation of Illinois’ Medicaid program and meet the wide-ranging needs of our most vulnerable clients,” HFS Director Julie Hamos said. “As part of our Care Coordination Innovations Project, we are pleased to work with providers and networks, like MHN, who are willing to collaborate and test new models of delivering care to the clients who need it most.”

 

MHN is a delivery network that virtually links 12 hospitals and 110 primary care sites, known as medical homes. It facilitates communication and ensures care continuity between participating institutions though an innovative technology infrastructure called MHNConnect. This secure, web-based portal tracks patients’ hospital and emergency department activity throughout the MHN community and provides real-time activity alerts and access to pertinent information at the point of care, including Medicaid claims and medication history. In addition, MHN’s recently launched Remote Home Monitoring Pilot utilizes wirelessly connected hardware, such as scales and blood pressure monitors in patients’ homes, to send providers daily updates on chronically ill patients’ health metrics.

 

Under the state’s Care Coordination Innovations Project (CCIP), Medical Home Network will serve as an innovative care coordination prototype for new populations in Illinois. MHN is the newest pilot of a care coordination model to be part of the CCIP. In October 2012, the state chose six additional healthcare networks to be part of the CCIP to initially launch the state’s transition to expanded coordinated care by 2015. MHN will complement these six integrated healthcare delivery models to improve care coordination throughout Illinois.

 

Delivering on Governor Quinn’s commitment to move half of Illinois’ Medicaid clients into care coordination by 2015, the Innovations Project is part of the state’s emerging system designed to bring together local primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, nursing homes and other providers to organize care around a patient’s needs and reduce unnecessary healthcare costs. Each client is assigned a care manager to coordinate their care and ensure that the needed services and supports are provided while avoiding unnecessary healthcare procedures.

 

“We are pleased that the State of Illinois is continuing to invest in innovative approaches to healthcare delivery and practice transformation, such as MHN,” said Medical Home Network executive director and president, Cheryl Lulias. “This contract will allow MHN to further increase accountability for quality, cost effective care among safety net providers. It enables us to improve patient experience by improving specialty care access, and supporting patient centered care and patient activation and engagement. Together, we believe this will drive better health outcomes for our target populations.”

 

MHN launched in 2009 thanks to initial funding from the Comer Science and Education Foundation. Since its launch, MHN and its partners have been committed to transforming healthcare delivery by improving care coordination and health outcomes, increasing access to high quality care, reducing costs and limiting the fragmentation of healthcare services. MHN is one of the largest collaboratives of disparate safety net providers to form an integrated delivery system that is capable of managing the cost and quality of the population's health.

 

MHN’s partnership with the state will specifically support further development of the provider-driven model, MHNConnect enhancements and expansion, pay-for-performance initiatives, an e-Consult and e-Referral pilot to enhance specialty access, and an expansion of remote home monitoring activities. Current providers include Access Community Health Network, Alivio Medical Center, Centro de Salud Esperanza Health Center, Chicago Family Health Center, Cook County Health and Hospitals System, Friend Family Health Center, Holy Cross Hospital, La Rabida Children’s Hospital, Lawndale Christian Health Center, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center and Saint Anthony Hospital. For more information on Medical Home Network, visit www.MHNChicago.org.

 

Through CCIP, the state is testing innovative healthcare delivery models that offer risk and performance based care coordination. These models are an alternative to traditional Health Maintenance Organizations. The state will continue to work with other provider organizations to further enhance the Innovations Project. To learn more about the Innovations Project, go to http://www2.illinois.gov/hfs/PublicInvolvement/cc/Pages/default.aspx