Grant Partners

Boston Public Health Commission will assist consumers in enrolling in and selecting health plans, as well as retaining coverage.  They will develop quick-guides on the new marketplace application and renewal processes, and disseminate “Health Portfolios” to consumers to track health coverage, primary care providers, and Affordable Care Act information.  “Roving Navigators” will promote access to health coverage at barbershops, auto body shops, and nail salons.

Family Health Center of Worcester will assist uninsured individuals to enroll in and maintain coverage, and connect to a primary care medical home.  They will continue weekly New Patient Orientation/Education Sessions, and expand the use of “I Speak” cards that detail useful information on the health center for patients.  Finally, they will provide individualized education and install computer kiosks for patients to use.

Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Lowell will deliver home health care services, self-care education and coaching, and tele-monitoring to high-cost patients identified by the Lowell General Physician Hospital Organization (PHO) and Lowell Community Health Center. The project will serve 100 “high utilizers” in its first year and will triple in size by its third year. Targeted patients will be those diagnosed with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or diabetes. In-home assessment, coaching, and monitoring will be provided to patients who do not qualify for these services under current payment and benefit guidelines because they are not homebound and do not have acute, but rather chronic conditions. The project’s goal is to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of these services.

The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute will continue its advocacy with MassHealth and the Connector around issues of eligibility, auto-assignment of health coverage, income determinations, and the availability of resources for assisters from community-based organizations.  Additionally, it will continue its work with the Disability Advocates Advancing our Health Care Rights (DAAHR) Coalition on the One Care demonstration for dual-eligible individuals.  

A Collaborative Practice Model for Improving Pediatric Mental Health Value:  The Alliance Foundation for Community Health will develop a new method of identifying youth at risk for low quality/high cost mental health treatment. The sample for this study will be drawn from the 101,000 youth under age 20 insured by Network Health. The project will also look within diagnosis groups to compare treatments and expenditures across race/ethnicity, language, geography, and other characteristics. In the second phase of the effort, the project will identify primary care providers who have the largest number of high-expenditure youth and work with them and families to develop more cost-effective approaches to treatment.