Iowa Healthcare Collaborative granted $32.5 million
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Sep 29, 2015 | 8:23 pm
1 min read time
282 wordsAll Latest News, Health and WellnessThe Iowa Healthcare Collaborative has been selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to participate in a four-year quality-of-care initiative that will support clinicians in Iowa and five other states.
The collaborative, a nonprofit formed in 2004 by the Iowa Medical Society and the Iowa Hospital Association, will receive up to $32.5 million over the next four years through the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative announced today by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative was among 39 regional and national health care networks that will receive $685 million in awards to provide support to more than 140,000 clinicians.
“Supporting doctors and other health care professionals to change the way they work is critical to improving quality and spending our health care dollars more wisely,” Burwell said in a release.
“These awards will give patients more of the information they need to make informed decisions about their care and give clinicians access to information and support to improve care coordination and quality outcomes.”
The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative and its partners across six states will operate as the Compass Practice Transformation Network to support more than 7,000 clinicians’ efforts to expand their quality improvement capacity, learn from one another, and achieve common goals of improved care, better health and reduced cost.
Some of the support efforts will include:
- Helping providers give patients better tools for communication through emails and other information technology applications.
- Providing dedicated coaches to help practices better manage chronic disease and offer preventive care.
- Offering real-time notification alerts for clinicians caring for high-risk patients.
- Improving screening and treatment of mental health and substance abuse across multiple care settings and increasing patient medication management education.