Health Care Innovation Awards: Idaho

Notes and Disclaimers:

• Projects shown may have also operated 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 were 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, with 22 hospitals and 185 clinics in Utah and Southern Idaho, received 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 used to support population management interventions, and 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, Intermountain 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.

MEDEXPERT INTERNATIONAL, INC

Project Title: "MedExpert International: Quality Medical Management System (QMMS)"
Geographic Reach: California, Idaho, Texas, Washington
Funding Amount: $9,332,545
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $50,410,304

Summary: MedExpert International received an award to test its Quality Medical Management System (QMMS) in comparison to a control group. QMMS is a shared decision-making system that provides consumers with access to world-expert physician advice, educational materials, and assistance with interpreting benefits and treatment options using Medical Information Coordinators and staff Physicians. QMMS will be available in selected geographic markets across the country to serve approximately 180,000 Medicare beneficiaries. The goal is to improve quality of care, reduce costs, increase transparency, achieve high utilization and satisfaction, and demonstrate model viability. Over a three-year period, MedExpert International will train and hire approximately 38 health care workers, including medical information coordinators, a medical information coordinator supervisor, a project manager, a senior executive manager, information technology and data engineers, senior engineers, and physicians.

ST. LUKE’S REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, LTD.

Project Title: "Tele-critical care and emergency services”
Geographic Reach: Idaho, Oregon
Funding Amount: $11,762,777
Estimated 3-Year Savings: $12,567,875

Summary: St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center received an award for remote intensive care unit (ICU) monitoring and care management in rural southwestern and central Idaho and eastern Oregon. Critical care for patients in ICUs will be provided by physician intensivists working in teams with care providers and coordinators working on site and in a central monitoring unit. Through early identification of patients in need of specialized care, improved care coordination, and standardized clinical quality practices, the program will reduce ICU days, increase access to specialty care, and provide more appropriate and timely care for patients. Over a three-year period, St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, Ltd’s program will train an estimated 110 workers, while creating an estimated 24.5 jobs for clinical and support specialists.

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 High Value Healthcare Collaborative (HVHC) received an award led by The Trustees of Dartmouth College to implement patient engagement and shared decision making processes and tools across its 15 member organizations for patients considering hip, knee, or spine surgery and complex patients with diabetes or congestive heart failure. The program will hire and train 48 health coaches across the 15 member organizations to engage patients and their families in their health care and health decisions.

High Value Healthcare Collaborative (HVHC) is implementing a bundle of services related to the care of sepsis patients across 13 health care systems around the country. The overall goal of this project is to utilize process improvement strategies to implement specific services at 3- and 6-hours post diagnosis as defined by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) and National Quality Forum (NQF) guidelines for the care of severe sepsis or septic shock. Over three years, this intervention aims to improve optimal adherence to sepsis bundled care by 5%, reduce the burden of chronic morbidity from sepsis-associated chronic organ dysfunction, and achieve a 5% relative rate reduction in the number of patients with sepsis requiring long-term acute care or sub-acute nursing care after an incident episode of severe sepsis.

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