Tuesday, March 27, 2012

IHC trainers strengthen bond with Early Intervention providers

The Illinois Health Connect Provider Training Specialist and the IHC Enrollee Services Trainer recently attended the 6th Annual Empowering Professionals Conference at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights.

Illinois Health Connect hosted an exhibit table at the conference to educate Early Intervention providers about the IHC program and to answer any questions. Some EI providers were aware of Illinois Health Connect and the necessity for clients to go their Primary Care Provider (PCP) at their medical home, while others had no previous knowledge of IHC. However, EI providers seemed very receptive to learning about IHC and how they can educate the families they work with.

Early Intervention coordinates services for children from birth through age 3 years who have developmental delays or are at risk for developmental delays. Coordination between all clinicians and agencies that care for patients is a hallmark of the medical home model of care.

To learn more about the Illinois Early Intervention Training Program, the principles of Early Intervention, the required training to become an EI provider and how to become credentialed as an EI provider, visit http://www.illinoiseitraining.org/ for more information.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Film features medical home as critical component to healthcare reform

U.S. Health Care: The Good News is a new film that examines innovative solutions for providing quality healthcare at significantly lower costs. One of the approaches featured in the film is the Patient-Centered Medical Home.

As a medical home program, Illinois Health Connect is excited that the medical home model is featured as a critical component of eliminating fragmentation and waste in American healthcare. IHC’s core concepts of getting to know your primary care provider well, continuity and coordination of care, preventive services, and long-term disease management are highlighted in the medical home segment (25:18-29:12). The entire film can be viewed on the PBS website.


“What we’ve seen here is a doctor who really knows her patient. The physician
isn’t just treating a sore knee or a runny nose, she treats a person. And she
keeps track of all the care that the other specialists there provide for that
person.”
– Correspondent T.R. Reid explains the Patient-Centered Medical Home in U.S. Health Care: The Good News.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Illinois Health Connect medical director presents at Medical Home Summit

Illinois Health Connect medical director Dr. Margaret Kirkegaard gave a presentation entitled "Safety Net Success: Evaluation of the Illinois Medicaid Medical Home Program" at the Fourth Annual Medical Home Summit in Philadelphia.

Dr. Kirkegaard co-presented with Dr. Meiying Han, an economist for the Washington, D.C.-based Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care.

The Robert Graham Center received a grant from The Commonwealth Fund to research the impact of Illinois Health Connect. The Graham Center analysis indicates that IHC has reduced both hospitalizations and ED visits. Cost analysis demonstrated that from 2006 through 2010 Illinois Health Connect saved the State $531 million compared to anticipated costs.

These savings figures do not include savings for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (ABD) population. An additional $1.5 billion in cost savings is attributable to improved management of the ABD population through the combination of Illinois Health Connect and the disease management program, Your Healthcare Plus, for the period of 2006 through 2010.

This preliminary research underscores the value of the medical home model in cost containment for Medicaid programs. The Robert Graham Center is completing additional analysis on quality outcomes and access to specialty care.