More than 250,000 Medicaid recipients with chronic health conditions have access to better care coordination and other services with the expansion of the Alabama Health Home Program http://medicaid.alabama.gov.
The Health Home program is defined by the federal government as an optional Medicaid program to integrate and coordinate care for patients with certain chronic conditions. These chronic conditions include asthma, diabetes, cancer, COPD, HIV, mental health conditions, substance use disorders, transplants, sickle cell, BMI over 25, heart disease, and hepatitis C.
Care management or coordinated care in the Health Home program connects patients with needed resources, teaches self-management skills, provides transitional care, and bridges medical and behavioral services.
Six probationary Regional Care Organizations (RCO) have signed contracts to operate Health Home programs. These groups include Alabama Community Care, My Care Alabama, Alabama Care Plan, Alabama Community Care, Care Network of Alabama, and the Gulf Coast Regional Care Organization.
The program has previously operated since 2012 as Patient Care Networks in 21 counties of the state. This program is in the process of expanding statewide as an interim step toward implementation of full-risk RCOs.
In another development within Alabama, Governor Robert Bentley http://governor.alabama.gov recently signed an executive order to create the Alabama Health Care Improvement Task Force. The task force includes doctors, medical school leaders, hospital administrators, insurance executives, nurses, state agency leaders, legislators and other professionals in mental health, dietetics, dentistry, public health, pharmacy, wellness, and other specialties.
The 38 member task force is set up to suggest changes to state regulations and laws and make initial recommendations to the Governor before the Legislature’s 2016 regular session begins. Potential focus areas include telemedicine, medical resources in rural areas, and scope-of-practice laws for nurse practitioners and other professionals.