Health Care Innovation Awards: Utah

 

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.

 

IHC HEALTH SERVICES (INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTH CARE)     

Project Title: “Disruptive Innovation @ Intermountain Healthcare”
Geographic Reach: Idaho, Utah
Funding Amount: $9,724,142
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $67,120,215

Summary: Intermountain Health Care Health Services, with 23 hospitals and 185 clinics in Utah and Southern Idaho, is receiving an award to test a new care delivery and payment model using an information technology-based simulation of human physiology, clinical events, and health care systems to forecast which interventions will be most effective in reducing a person’s risk, provide risk stratification metrics for individual patients, and project benefits for specific interventions. Their system will incorporate tracking of depression and its effects on risks and outcomes, and will be paired with a shared savings methodology, possibly with a mechanism for sharing downside risk through a “pre-funded withhold” concept.

Over a three-year period, IHC Health Services will train and hire 12 workers for health information technology-related jobs, including research assistants, data analysts, data warehouse analysts, decision-support analysts, and positions as data architect, management engineer, and project coordinator.

 

TRUSTEES OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE 

Project Title: “Engaging patients through shared decision making:  using patient and family activators to meet the triple aim”
Geographic Reach: California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington
Funding Amount: $26,172,439
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $63,798,577

Summary: The Trustees of Dartmouth College is receiving an award to collaborate with 15 large health care systems around the country to hire Patient and Family Activators (PFAs). The PFAs will be trained to engage in shared decision making with patients and their families, focusing on preferences and supplying sensitive care choices. PFAs may work with patients at a single decision point or over multiple visits for those with chronic conditions. It is anticipated that this intervention will lead to a reduction in utilization and costs and provide invaluable data on patient engagement processes and effective decision making—leading to new outcomes measures for patient and family engagement in shared decision making.

Over a three-year period, the Trustees of Dartmouth College-sponsored program will train 5,775 health care workers and create 48 positions for patient and family activators.

 

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