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Keep up to date with what’s happening at the Innovation Center—look below for press releases, fact sheets, speeches, and other materials.

CMS Innovation Center News Releases:

 

September 27, 2012

New Program to Increase Quality in Nursing Facilities

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced seven cooperative agreement awards partnering with 145 nursing facilities to implement the Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents.

 

August 22, 2012

CMS Announces Primary Care Practices to Participate in Historic Public-Private Partnership to Strengthen Primary Care
Seven regions will test unique investment in coordinated care

In support of more effective, more affordable, higher quality health care, 500 primary care practices in seven regions have been selected to participate in a new partnership between payers from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), state Medicaid agencies, commercial health plans, self-insured businesses, and primary care providers. This partnership is designed to provide improved access to quality health care at lower costs.

 

July 19, 2012

HHS Announces State Health Care Innovation Initiative
State Innovation Models to foster design and development of health care improvements

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new opportunity made possible by the Affordable Care Act, to help states design and test improvements to their health care delivery systems that would bolster health care quality and decrease costs.

Through the State Innovation Models initiative, states will work with a broad coalition – employers, insurers, community leaders and service organizations, health care providers, consumers, tribal governments, among others – to design or test multi-payer payment and delivery system improvements to health care systems for Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries while eliminating unnecessary spending.  

 

June 15, 2012

HHS announces 81 Health Care Innovation Awards

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the recipients of 81 new Health Care Innovation Awards made possible by the health care law, the Affordable Care Act. The awards will support innovative projects nationwide designed to deliver high-quality medical care, enhance the health care workforce, and save money. Combined with the awards announced last month, HHS has awarded 107 projects that intend to save the health care system an estimated $1.9 billion over the next three years.

 

June 06, 2012

CMS Announces Private-Sector Commitments to Improve Primary Care for Patients, Save Money for Medicare  

In a strong show of support for more effective, more affordable, higher quality health care, 45 commercial, federal and State insurers in seven markets today pledged to work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to give more Americans access to quality health care at lower cost.

 

May 08, 2012

We Can’t Wait: HHS announces first 26 Health Care Innovation Awards

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the first batch of organizations for Health Care Innovation awards. Made possible by the health care law – the Affordable Care Act – the awards will support 26 innovative projects nationwide that will save money, deliver high quality medical care and enhance the health care workforce. The preliminary awardees announced today expect to reduce health spending by $254 million over the next 3 years.

 

April 26, 2012

HHS announces new Affordable Care Act options for community-based care

HHS finalized the Community First Choice rule, which is a new State plan option under Medicaid, and announced the participants in the Independence At Home Demonstration program, which encourages primary care practices to provide home-based care to chronically ill Medicare patients.

 

April 10, 2012

New Affordable Care Act program to improve care, control Medicare costs, off to a strong start

A new program that will help physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers work together to improve care for people with Medicare is off to a strong start, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today. Under the new Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program), 27 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) have entered into agreements with CMS, taking responsibility for the quality of care furnished to people with Medicare in return for the opportunity to share in savings realized through improved care. CMS also announced today that five ACOs are participating in the Advance Payment ACO Model beginning April 1.

 

March 21, 2012

CMS Announces New Initiative to Bolster Primary Care Workforce

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced a call for applications for a new Affordable Care Act initiative designed to strengthen primary care in the United States. Under the Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration, CMS will provide hospitals working with nursing schools to train advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) with payments of up to $200 million over four years to cover the costs of APRNs’ clinical training.

 

March 15, 2012

New Opportunity for Better Care for Nursing Facility Residents through Enhanced Coordination Efforts

CMS Announces New Initiative to Improve Care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees and Reduce Costly and Avoidable Hospitalizations

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced the Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents, a new effort designed to improve care for people living in nursing facilities who are enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. The initiative aims to reduce costly and avoidable hospitalizations among nursing facility residents by funding organizations that would partner with nursing facilities to provide enhanced on-site services and supports to nursing facility residents. CMS commits up to $128 million to support a diverse portfolio of these evidence-based interventions.

 

March 14, 2012

CMS Continues Effort to Improve Quality of Care for People with Medicare

New Partners Named in Efforts to Improve Transitions between the Hospital and Other Care Settings

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced 23 additional participants in the Community-based Care Transitions Program (CCTP). These participants will join seven other community-based organizations already working with local hospitals and other health care and social service providers to support high-risk Medicare patients in maintaining the healing process as they transition from hospital stays to home, a nursing home, or other care setting.

 

March 13, 2012

Affordable Care Act Demonstration to Expand Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced that 11 States and the District of Columbia will participate in the Medicaid Emergency Psychiatric Demonstration, established under the Affordable Care Act to test whether Medicaid beneficiaries who are experiencing a psychiatric emergency get more immediate, appropriate care when institutions for mental diseases (IMDs) receive Medicaid reimbursement.

 

February 8, 2012

Obama Administration Launches Initiative to Give Newborns and Mothers a "Strong Start"

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the launch of Strong Start, a new initiative to improve care and outcomes for mothers and newborns. This initiative will support mothers and their health providers in achieving healthy birth outcomes and test new models in Medicaid for enhanced prenatal care.

 

January 26, 2012

Report: One Year of Innovation: Taking Action to Improve Care and Reduce Costs

The Obama Administration released a new report today highlighting the success of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Created by the Affordable Care Act, the Innovation Center has already worked to test and support innovative new health care models that can reduce costs and strengthen the quality of health care.

 

January 3, 2012

Healthcare Professionals Selected for the New Innovation Advisors Program to Improve Care for Patients

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it has selected 73 individuals across 27 States and the District of Columbia for its Innovation Advisors program. The initiative, launched by the CMS Innovation Center in October 2011, will enable health professionals to enhance skills that will ultimately drive improvements to care for patients, and at the same time reduce costs in communities nationwide.