The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Wednesday a billion dollar funding opportunity for round two of its Health Care Innovation Awards, focusing this time on post-acute care innovation.
CMS will spend up to $1 billion for awards and evaluation of projects from across the country that test new payment and service deliver models that will deliver better care and lower costs for Medicare and Medicaid, along with the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD), the largest national senior living provider, received $7.3 million in Round 1 of the Health Care Innovation Awards in a partnership with the University of North Texas Health Science Center to test its Transitions of Care program for independent living, assisted living, and memory care residents.
This second round of awards will support public and private organizations in four defined areas that have high likelihood of driving healthcare system transformation and delivering better outcomes.
Proposals submitted to CMS must be for models designed to rapidly reduce Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP costs in post-acute settings; models that improve care for populations with specialized needs; and models that test approaches for specific types of providers to transform their financial and clinical models.
Lastly, CMS is seeking proposals for models that improve the health of specific populations, whether geographically, clinically, or by socioeconomic class, through activities focused on engaging beneficiaries; prevention; wellness; and comprehensive care that extend beyond the clinical service deliver setting.
As part of the application, applications must submit the design of a payment model that is consistent with the new serve deliver model they’re proposing.
The eligibility for these awards extends to all types of organizations who have developed innovations that will drive significant improvement in population health, quality of care, and total cost of care, including provider groups, health systems, public-privtae partnerships, faith-based organizations, and for-profit organization.
CMS will accept letters of intent to apply for the awards beginning June 1 through June 28, 2013. Applications can be submitted between June 14 and August 15.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
