CMS gives $120 million to 32 organizations for bridging gaps between clinic & community

What basically happens when a patient leaves the office of doctor is just as significant, if not more so, as what takes place during the visit itself. But reducing that gap between the clinic and community is a key issue for healthcare and community providers alike.  

In order to close the divide, the CMS Innovation Center said on the day of Thursday that it will provide $120 million to 32 agencies selected to engage in its Accountable Health Communities model. The groups will serve as test hubs for over 5 years assisting Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with health-related social requirements involving housing instability, food insecurity, domestic violence and transportation.
The three-track model targets to mitigate unimportant healthcare utilization in case to drive down spending, while also making better the outcomes and quality of care for sufferers. To improve community-clinical collaboration, Model participants will work by screening beneficiaries for unmet social requirements, referring them to the right services or assisting them to navigate and access those services. They also work to make definite that community services are available and responsive to beneficiaries.
The agencies named Thursday will engage in the assistance and alignment tracks of the Accountable Health Communities model. The twelve organizations in the assistance track will assist high-risk beneficiaries navigate community services, and the 20 in the alignment track will do the similar while also boosting alignment among partners to make community services available. 
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) declaration didn’t reveal the exact amounts awarded to each grantee. In accordance to a CMS fact sheet, the organization planned to award up to $2.57 million each to the twelve organizations in the assistance track and up to $4.51 million each to the twenty organizations in the alignment track. 
The funded organizations involved recognized industry names, like Hackensack University in New Jersey, Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, and the Oregon Health & Science University, as well as government entities such as the Baltimore City Health Department, and associations like the Denver Regional Council of Governments. 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to make announcements in relation to the remaining track, awareness this season of summer. 12 recipients is being anticipated by CMS that will participate in such program and get up to $1 million each.