NEW CASTLE (Nov. 15, 2018) – As part of the State Innovation Model (SIM) initiative, the Delaware Health Care Commission has awarded the first value-based payment reform mini-grant to Christiana Care Health System to test a new reimbursement model that will also improve the coordination of patient care.

Christiana Care Health System’s CareLink Behavioral Health Medical Home Pilot was awarded $62,168 to test a reimbursement model to foster behavioral health integration within primary care practices focusing on a subset of AmeriHealth Medicaid members with chronic behavioral health conditions as a primary diagnosis.

The Health Care Commission is prepared to award up to multiple applicants in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 through the Value-Based Payment Reform Fund for work that must be completed by Jan. 31, 2019. The commission has received a total of 45 applications from primary care providers, behavioral health providers, hospitals, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and clinically integrated networks, all of which must be licensed in the State of Delaware. The commission expects to award grants for small projects (up to $50,000) and large projects (up to $250,000), based on the scope of the project.

“We are pleased to announce the first mini-grant award to Christiana Care as a way for a prominent health care provider in our state to conduct a pilot project in the area of value-based payment reform,” said Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker, a board-certified family physician. “This is a significant step forward in terms of how health care will be delivered and paid for in Delaware. Additional awards are going through the review and approval process, and we look forward to making those announcements soon.”

“As our work with the State Innovation Model nears its conclusion, the mini-grants are an important milestone for health care providers in our state as they embrace change in health care delivery and plan for long-term sustainability in terms of innovation,” said Dr. Nancy Fan, Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission. “Along with ongoing work through our practice transformation vendors, the mini-grants will give providers a practical way to facilitate change in the health care landscape.”

Applications, which were received during the summer, fell into one of three areas:

• Data integration: Project must enhance the applicant’s data integration, clinical informatics or population-based analytics capabilities. Examples include data exchange infrastructure and analytics projects or support; data warehousing and reporting capacity; and development of data-sharing agreements.
• Improve the coordination of patient care: Project must enhance the applicant’s clinical integration. Examples include conducting data analytics and developing care guidelines for a primary care-based system of complex care management for high-risk population(s); implementing improvements in care transitions such as new business processes or mutual agreements with partner providers; and implementing a practice support call center.
• Increase readiness to integrate into an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) or operate through an Alternative Payment Method (APM): Project must develop, expand or enhance the applicant’s shared governance structures and organizational integration strategies, linking the applicant with ACO leadership and across the continuum of care with providers already contracted with an ACO. An example would be support to model costs of care in preparation for participation in value-based payment arrangements with multiple payers.

“The Delaware Center for Health Innovation (DCHI) is a public/private partnership that was created after Delaware received a four-year State Innovation Model grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation,” said Julane Miller-Armbrister, executive director of DCHI. “We support innovative changes in health care delivery and payment in our state in order to drive quality and better health for the people of Delaware. The mini-grants are another step forward in achieving lasting change.”

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