Minnesota received $45 million to implement and test its State Health Care Innovation Plan, which builds on the state's Health Care Homes program and Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations. The Minnesota Accountable Health Model will ensure that every citizen of the state of Minnesota has the option to receive team-based, coordinated, patient-centered care that increases and facilitates access to medical care, behavioral health care, long term care, and other services. To better integrate care and services for the whole person across the continuum of care (including health care, mental health care, long-term care and other services), the Minnesota Accountable Health Model will test a comprehensive, statewide program to close the current gaps in health information, create a quality improvement infrastructure, and provide the workforce capacity essential for team-based coordinated care.
In addition to strengthening clinical health care, the Minnesota model for health system transformation will emphasize community health, preventive services, behavioral health, and other support services. Minnesota will increase the kinds of care offered through ACOs, including for the first time long-term social services and behavioral health services. It will create linkages between the ACOs and Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurers, aligning payments to provide better care coordination, wider access to services, and improved coverage. Minnesota also plans to work with community organizations to create Accountable Communities for Health that will integrate medical care with behavioral health services, public health, long-term care, social services, and other forms of care, share accountability for population health, and provide care centered on the needs of individuals and families.
The Integrated Health Partnerships demonstration, formerly called the Health Care Delivery Systems (HCDS) demonstration, is also a major component of the $45 million federal State Innovation Model grant helping to drive health care reform in Minnesota.
This award will enable Minnesota to expand its health information exchange and health information technology infrastructure, develop a workforce of community health workers and care coordinators, and support primary care physicians who wish to transform their practices into Patient-Centered Medical Homes to improve their patients’ overall health.
