July 26, 2012
Innovating high tech, high touch health care
In November
of 2011, the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center announced a Health
Care Innovation Challenge offering one billion dollars in funding to
applicants who could implement the most compelling new ideas to deliver better
health, improved care and lower costs to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid
and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), particularly those with the
highest health care needs.
The University of Missouri (MU)
was pleased to learn that, out of 3,000 applications, it was one of 107 chosen
for a CMS Health Care Innovation Award. The $13.3 million grant was awarded to MU
for its new health care model proposal titled LIGHT2: Leveraging
Information Technology to Guide High
Tech High Touch Care.
The LIGHT2 model will
provide enhanced primary care to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries receiving
primary care within the University of Missouri Health System. The model will
use advanced health information technology, evidence-based treatment planning, and a specialized workforce
to coordinate care for both patients and the existing health care team. Through
support for disease self-management, improved delivery system design, focus on
preventive care, and better decision-making tools, the intervention will
strengthen primary care, reduce specialist referrals and the need for acute
care, and improve patients’ health.
The High Touch component of LIGHT2
is comprised of a specialized workforce that will be deployed in the primary
care setting. This new workforce is made up of health care coordinators and
health information analysts (HIA). The HIA role is a new and innovative type of
health care worker that will focus directly on the health status and care needs
of a specific patient population. HIAs will be able to use LIGHT2 to
mine data that can elucidate the health care needs of their assigned patient
population that would otherwise remain obscure to providers.
The High
Tech components of LIGHT2
draw from TI Living Lab innovations, Cerner solutions, and University of
Missouri development. Through an innovative approach, these solutions will form
a comprehensive technology suite that empowers patients with data and
information to proactively manage their care. It also enables providers to
continuously improve their care delivery.
As the largest grant ever awarded
to MU School of Medicine, this award provides a tremendous opportunity for us
to transform the health and care of Missourians and propel MU Health Care to
the vanguard of primary care delivery. The estimated 3-years savings of the
LIGHT2 health care model is almost $17 million, and the program will
train an estimated 420 workers and create an estimated 30 jobs including a
project coordinator, a business manager, three health information analysts and
18 health care coordinators.
Jerry Parker, PhD, is associate dean for
research at the University of Missouri
School of Medicine, co-director of the MU
Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, co-principal investigator
for MU's Coulter
Translational Partnership Program, and a professor of physical medicine and
rehabilitation. He previously served as principal investigator and director for
the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, as well as
associate chief of staff for research and development at the Truman Veterans
Hospital. At the national level, Dr. Parker has served on the NIH National
Advisory Board for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and was a member of
the NIH Consensus Panel on Traumatic Brain Injury. He also has served on
national peer review panels for the NIH, National Institute for Disability and
Rehabilitation Research, VA and the Arthritis Foundation.