Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), https://www2.illinois.gov/hfs awarded the Illinois Healthcare Transformation Collaborative $18 million as part of the inaugural round of Healthcare Transformation funding.
Earlier this year the Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives program was established to encourage healthcare providers to partner together to develop innovative solutions for meeting healthcare needs in their communities and closing the gaps that exist in healthcare delivery across the state.
The Collaborative will work to address systemic obstacles individuals and families face in accessing quality healthcare through new initiatives to address technology gaps, expand telehealth services, and more.
HFS has prioritized collaborations that included safety net and critical access hospitals, projects that improve specialty care or provide workforce development in underserved communities, along with projects that will work to fill healthcare gaps in communities in Illinois that are high on the CDC social vulnerability index.
“The Collaborative has presented ways to creatively remedy an array of barriers that face Medicaid customers in accessing the highest quality of care,” HFS Director Theresa Eagleson said.
She also reports, “From greatly boosting telehealth offerings to addressing the lack of transportation in rural areas, these effort will alleviate persistent access issues and address the social and structural determinants of health.”