Posted: 4/12/2017
One of 32 participants nationwide to link clinical, community services
The Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) has been named a recipient of the CMS Accountable Health Communities (AHC) grant by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Assistance and Alignment Tracks of the Accountable Health Communities Model will begin on May 1, with a five-year performance period.
PCCI is one of 32 participating sites in 23 states. UT Health Science Center Houston and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa are the only other Texas sites that will conduct and test interventions.
“We are poised to utilize the innovative and transformational capabilities of PCCI in an effort to reduce health disparities in the North Texas region and across the nation,” said Ted Shaw, chair of the PCCI Board of Directors. “PCCI is dedicated to designing solutions that bring together clinical care, public health and community services in a coherent strategy to meet the community’s healthcare needs.”
The grant was designed to specifically address the largest cost drivers that extend beyond the scope of healthcare alone including unmet health-related social needs such as food insecurity and inadequate or unstable housing which may increase the risk of developing chronic conditions, reduce an individuals’ ability to manage these conditions and lead to avoidable healthcare utilization.
“We are very proud that CMS has entrusted PCCI with an Accountable Health Communities Model Grant. This award recognizes the great work PCCI and the Pieces Technologies, Inc. teams have done over the last few years and is a great opportunity for PCCI, Parkland and the Dallas community to expand our mission of creating a world of connected communities where every health outcome is positive,” said Steve Miff, PhD, president and CEO of PCCI.
“We are thankful to our Dallas AHC grant partners, Parkland Health & Hospital System leadership and board, the W.W. Caruth, Jr. and Lyda Hill Foundations for their ongoing partnership, and for the letters of support from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, the Dallas County Health Department, and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins,” Dr. Miff added. “We look forward to getting started and partnering with CMS and other leading organizations across the country to improve the health of every community.”
The AHC model was established to test innovative service delivery models and seeks specifically to test whether uniform screening of Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries at risk for emergency department visits will reduce expenditures and enhance quality of care.
CMS launched the project by announcing the participants for two of the three tracks, the Assistance and Alignment Tracks. PCCI had been awarded the Alignment Track, the most intensive level which includes screening, education, referral, navigation and alignment of community resources to ensure responsiveness to high risk beneficiaries needs.
PCCI will be partnering with five healthcare providers in the Metroplex (Parkland, Methodist, Children’s, Baylor, Dallas Metrocare), 289 community based organizations and Texas Medicaid to design, implement and evaluate this model.
To view a list of the assistance and Alignment Tracks bridge organizations in the Accountable Health Communities Model, please visit: https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/ahcm. For more information about the Accountable Health Communities Model, please visit: https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/ahcm.
About PCCI:
PCCI is an independent, not-for-profit healthcare intelligence organization focused on creating connected communities through data science and machine learning. It combines deep clinical expertise with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to enable the delivery of precision medicine at the point of care. PCCI is a recipient of more than $45 million in grants directed at developing and deploying patient centric cutting edge technologies connecting communities, Parkland Health & Hospital System and beyond.