CMS NEWS RELEASE
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday announced that innovative programs in Nevada are recipients of the second batch of Health Care Innovation Awards, among 81 new awards released nationwide.
Made possible by the health care law – the Affordable Care Act – the awards will support projects nationwide that are designed to deliver high quality medical care, enhance the health care workforce and save money. Combined with the awards announced last month, HHS has now made awards to 107 projects that intend to save the health care system an estimated $1.9 billion over the next three years.
“Thanks to the health care law, we are giving people in local communities the resources they need to make our health care system stronger,” said Sebelius.
The awards are notable for their geographic diversity; projects will be located in urban and rural areas, all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Projects in Nevada include:
- Regional Emergency Medical Services is receiving $9.9 million to establish Community Health Early Intervention Teams and new non-emergency phone numbers to reduce non-emergency ambulance responses in Reno and rural Washoe County.
- 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 Nevada and 34 other states to lower avoidable hospital admissions rates for residents in senior living.
- St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, Ltd. is receiving $11.8 million for remote intensive care unit monitoring and care management in Nevada and two other states. Critical care for patients in ICUs will be provided by physician “intensivists,” teaming up with other providers on site and from a central monitoring unit.
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. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 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 yesterday, go to innovations.cms.gov/initiatives/innovation-awards/project-profiles.html.
To learn more about other innovative models being tested by the Innovation Center, please visit innovations.cms.gov.
