Blue Shield of California Foundation www.blueshieldcafoundation.org awarded $11.2 million in funding to improve health and safety for vulnerable state residents. A key focus of this second-quarter funding is to promote innovative, value-based service delivery integration for healthcare, prevent domestic violence, and provide other social services to ensure effective and coordinated care.
Targeted at urban, rural, and safety net providers, the grants will continue to support health information exchanges and other technology interoperability projects, as well as new models of care delivery that will address access to specialty care and behavioral health services. The funding aims to offer well-coordinated care and bring California safety net providers closer to a model where patients with complex problems can be redirected to the best available services.
“Our state’s underserved, low income patients, and survivors of domestic violence face significant barriers to care that are magnified by a poorly integrated healthcare system” said Peter Long, PhD, President and CEO of Blue Shield of California Foundation. “We believe that strengthening the integration and coordination of services across the safety net will remain critical as the state navigates the current healthcare environment.”
Second Quarter funding 2017 grants were awarded in several categories that included Value-Based Care, Patient Engagement, Care Integration, Domestic Violence Systems and Survivor Experience, Remaining Uninsured, and funds were also awarded to provide General Operating Support.
Some of the grantees in the Care Integration Category include:
- California Pan-Ethnic Health Network ($427,250) https://cpehn.org —To coordinate and convene a behavioral health equity collaborative and develop an integrated behavioral health policy agenda to advance equity for communities of color and other underserved populations in the healthcare system
- Community Health Partnership of Santa Clara County, Inc. (100,000) www.cpscc.org —To support pilot testing and spread of eConsult in the local safety net
- Prevention Institute ($159,531) www.preventioninstitute.org —To build awareness, and take action toward community-level prevention strategies to disrupt the path toward complex medical and behavioral health conditions
- Public Health Institute ($165,608) www.phi.org —To advance policies to accelerate the spread and sustainability of (eConsult) as a means to improve access to quality specialty care for the underserved
In addition, the Payment Reform Pilot Program Support for Federally Qualified Health Centers received up to $525,000 to provide general operating support.
http://www.blueshieldcafoundation.org/second-quarter-grants-2017 has a complete list of awards.