CHCF, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award $1.2 Million in Grants to Integrated Healthcare Association
The California HealthCare Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have awarded the Integrated Healthcare Association, a California group that addresses health policy and managed care issues, two grants that total more than $1.2 million to conduct pilot programs to help health care providers improve quality. IHA received the grants as part of Rewarding Results, a $4.9 million national grant program administered by the National Health Care Purchasing Institute. The program will study proposals to implement recommendations made in an Institute of Medicine report to remove "payment-related barriers" to quality improvement, develop "strong incentives" for quality and "provide an opportunity for providers to share in the benefits of quality improvement" (IHA release, 9/26). The first IHA pilot program, which will affect eight million HMO members statewide, will develop incentives for clinical performance in six areas -- such as breast and cervical cancer tests, asthma and diabetes -- as well as patient satisfaction and information technology investments. The second IHA pilot program, which will affect one million children enrolled in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families in nine California counties, will develop incentives for pediatric providers to increase performance, make information system improvements and improve the identification and management of childhood obesity. In addition to the two IHA grants, Blue Cross of California received a grant to develop incentives for improved treatment of chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, asthma and heart failure, as well as improved physician-patient relationships. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Excellus Health Plan in New York and Massachusetts Health Quality Partners also received grants (RWJF release, 9/26).
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