Providers, Tech Companies, and Local Organizations Expected to Lower Costs; Improve Quality
On June 15, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the recipients of 81 new Health Care Innovation Awards made possible by the health care law, the Affordable Care Act. The awards will support innovative projects nationwide designed to deliver high-quality medical care, enhance the health care workforce, and save money. Combined with the awards announced last month, HHS has awarded 107 projects that, according to awardees, intend to save the health care system an estimated $1.9 billion over the next three years. The awards are notable for their geographic diversity; projects will be located in urban and rural areas, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Projects include: Sepsis Early Recognition and Response Initiative in Texas, a project of the Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston, is a novel approach to identify and treat sepsis before it progresses. Sepsis is the sixth most common reason for hospitalization and typically requires double the average time in the hospital. It leads to complications such as renal failure and cognitive decline; one out of 20 patients with sepsis die within 30 days. Methodist Hospital's novel initiative will lead to fewer cases of organ failure, improved patient outcomes, shorter stays in the hospital, and lower costs. Awardees were chosen for their innovative solutions to the health care challenges facing their communities and for their focus on creating a well-trained health care workforce that is equipped to meet the need for new jobs in the 21st century health system. CMS at HHS contracted with an external organization with extensive experience in managing independent grant review processes to administer the award review process to ensure an objective review of each application. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within CMS will administer the awards through cooperative agreements over three years. For more information on the awards announced today, go to the Health Care Innovation Awards: Project Profiles<http://innovations.cms.gov/initiatives/innovation-awards/project-profiles.html> web page. To learn more about other innovative models being tested by the Innovation Center, please visit: innovations.cms.gov<http://www.innovation.cms.gov/>. Full text of this excerpted HHS press release<http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4382&intNumPerPage=10&checkDate=&checkKey=&srchType=1&numDays=3500&srchOpt=0&srchData=&keywordType=All&chkNewsType=1%2C+2%2C+3%2C+4%2C+5&intPage=&showAll=&pYear=&year=&desc=&cboOrder=date> (issued June 15). ________________________________ If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads//MailingLists_FactSheet.pdf<http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/downloads/MailingLists_FactSheet.pdf> and select the appropriate listserv to subscribe. If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/ContactCMS/index.html). Thank you.
