Health Care Innovation Awards: Hawaii
Notes and Disclaimers:
- Projects shown may also be operating in other states (see the Geographic Reach)
- Descriptions and project data (e.g. gross savings estimates, population served, etc.) are 3 year estimates provided by each organization and are based on budget submissions required by the Health Care Innovation Awards application process.
- While all projects are expected to produce cost savings beyond the 3 year grant award, some may not achieve net cost savings until after the initial 3-year period due to start-up-costs, change in care patterns and intervention effect on health status.
FIRSTVITALS HEALTH AND WELLNESS INC.
Project Title: “Improving the health and care of low-income diabetics at reduced costs”
Geographic Reach: Hawaii
Funding Amount: $3,999,713
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $4,829,955
Summary: FirstVitals Health and Wellness Inc., in partnership with AlohaCare, is receiving an award to implement and test a care coordination and health information technology plan that will better regulate glucose levels for Medicaid-eligible patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. FirstVitals will create a secured database that will receive data feeds from wireless glucose meters. The information will be available to integrated care coordinators, patients, physicians and other approved caregivers, informing decisions about care and enabling caregivers to track and monitor glucose levels, improve medication adherence, and increase patient safety and the effectiveness of treatment. The project will reduce complications, slow the progression of the disease, and reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
Over a three-year period, FirstVitals’ program will train an estimated 11 workers and will create an estimated 6 jobs. The new workforce will include integrated care coordinators, a clinical diabetes educator, and a medical director.
ST. FRANCIS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION OF HAWAII
Project Title: “Preventing hospitalizations in very high-risk patients”
Geographic Reach: Hawaii
Funding Amount: $5,299,706
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $10,393,944
Summary: St. Francis Healthcare Foundation of Hawaii is receiving an award for telehealth-based home monitoring for very high risk patients with complex health care needs to prevent hospitalizations. The program will use care management teams that include physicians and trained nurse clinicians to develop individualized care plans, monitor patients' health, manage adherence to medication and care, and intervene as necessary. The goal is to reduce preventable hospitalizations and readmissions by 40% as compared to a control group and to improve patients' health and quality of life.
Over a three-year period, St. Francis Healthcare Foundation of Hawaii's program will train an estimated 20 workers and create an estimated 15 jobs-for nurse clinicians, a data clerk, research and administrative assistants, an associate project director, and a project director.
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES
Project Title: "Cost-effective delivery of enhanced home caregiver training”
Geographic Reach: Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Texas
Funding Amount: $3,615,818
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $1,286,251
Summary: The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is receiving an award for enhanced training of both family caregivers and the direct-care workforce in order to improve care for elderly patients requiring long-term care services, including Medicare beneficiaries qualifying for home healthcare services and Medicaid beneficiaries who receive homemaker and personal care assistant services. Inadequate training of the direct care worker has been shown to have a direct impact on the quality of care to the elderly. By enhancing the training of the direct-care workforce, the increasingly complex care needs of the older adult can be better managed in the home, leading to fewer avoidable hospital admissions and readmissions, better preventive care, better compliance with care, and avoidance of unnecessary institutional care. The investments made by this grant are expected to generate cost savings beyond the three year grant period.
Over a three-year period, The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ program will train an estimated 2100 workers and will create an estimated four jobs. The new workforce will include a project manager, a nurse educators and an administrative assistant. Additionally, this program will train home care givers in rural areas using distance education. Through tuition and textbook support this program will increase the number of certified caregivers providing direct care to elderly adults.
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT HILO
Project Title: "Pharm2Pharm, a formal hospital pharmacist to community pharmacist collaboration”
Geographic Reach: Hawaii
Funding Amount: $14,346,043
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $27,114,939
Summary: The University of Hawaii at Hilo and its College of Pharmacy, in partnership with Hawaii Health Systems Corporation and Hawaii Pacific Health, community pharmacies in rural counties of Hawaii, the Hawaii Health Information Exchange, and Hawaii Health Information Corporation, is receiving an award to improve medication reconciliation and management for the elderly in three rural counties of Hawaii. The program will integrate pharmacists into hospital and ambulatory care teams and use health information technology for decision-making support and to enhance communication, particularly between hospital pharmacists and community pharmacists. The result will be better care transitions, a reduction in adverse events, improved medication adherence, and better-informed, more patient-centered decisions about medication therapies, leading to reduced hospitalizations, readmissions, and emergency room visits and better health care and health for the patients served.
Over a three-year period, the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s program will train new workers including a pharmacist project coordinator, a certified project management professional, a physician leader/care transition expert, a measurement and evaluation expert, a contracts administrator, and an administrative assistant.