Millions in federal health care grants have been awarded to various private firms, nonprofits and colleges around the country to help Connecticut transform its health care system, federal officials say.
The 81 grants, announced Friday by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, are part of Health Care Innovation Awards initiative that is being funded by the Affordable Care Act.
Projects in Connecticut include:
• TransforMED, a Kansas company, is receiving $21 million to redesign primary care in Connecticut and 10 other states. Patient-centered medical homes, specialty practices, and hospitals will build “medical neighborhoods” with sophisticated analytics to identify high risk patients and coordinate care.
• The University of North Texas Health Science Center, in partnership with Brookdale Senior Living, is receiving $7.3 million to expand Brookdale Senior Living’s Transitions of Care Program for nursing home residents to independent living, assisted-living and dementia communities, and others. At the end of three years, advanced practice nurses will be training care transition nurses in Connecticut and 34 other states to lower avoidable hospital admissions rates for residents in senior living.
• Connecticut patients will benefit from $6.9 million awarded to San Francisco Community College, and its partners, City College of San Francisco, the University of California San Francisco, and Yale University, to address the health care needs of high-risk/high-cost Medicare and Medicaid-eligible patients released from prison.
The program, focusing on 11 community health centers in eight jurisdictions, will work with corrections officials to identify patients prior to release from prison who have chronic medical conditions, help them navigate the care system, find primary care and other medical and social services, and coach them in chronic disease management.
