JustCare

Tag: Accountable Health Communities

  • How does your state rank on health care?

    How does your state rank on health care?

    The Commonwealth Fund recently issued its 2018 report ranking states on their health systems performance. Hawaii remains in first place. Mississippi ranked in last place. Overall, the picture is not pretty. How does your state rank on health care outcomes?

    The researchers found that life expectancy in the US fell for the second year in a row, in large part as a result of opioid and other substance abuse and suicide. They found a 50 percent increase in deaths from suicide, drugs and alcohol use since 2005. Rates rose in all states, doubling or more in Delaware, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia.

    Deaths from conditions that are treatable also rose in two out of three states between 2014 and 2015. In a handful of states, the rise was more than five percent: 351 in Colorado, 643 in Oklahoma, and 988 in Texas, for example.

    And, the researchers found that most adults do not get mental health treatment. On average, 56 percent of adults with mental illness were not treated for it. In Nevada, two out of three adults were not treated.

    As for the states that did relatively well and those that did poorly: The five highest ranking states were Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont and Utah. The five lowest ranking states were Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

    The authors recommend a move to integrative care, bringing together behavioral health and physical health, with a focus on the social determinants of health. Some states are working to connect residents in need to community social services programs, including good housing and nutrition, health screenings and substance abuse counseling services. In fact, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is contracting with agencies in many states to create Accountable Health Communities, which are supposed to bridge the gap between clinical care and community services.

    Some good news: Medicare covers alcohol screenings and counseling  as well as nutrition counseling.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Accountable Health Communities offer services and supports

    Accountable Health Communities offer services and supports

    Compelling evidence shows that social supports help promote good health. So, as part of its mandate to test innovations under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is testing an Accountable Health Communities Model intended to bridge the gap in services between clinical care and community services in today’s health care system. CMS is assessing whether identifying and addressing the “social determinants of health”–social needs related to health care–can both promote better health and rein in overall health care spending.

    The Accountable Health Communities Model draws from evidence demonstrating that when you link health care services to community services you can improve people’s health and lower costs. The Model will address housing instability, food insecurity, utility needs, interpersonal violence and transportation needs.

    Community services may include ensuring people eat healthy meals, have stable housing and can access needed health care services. People who are ill-nourished, living in unstable conditions and not able to access needed health care are more prone to chronic disease and have costly health care needs.

    CMS will be testing the Accountable Health Communities Model through 44 contracts with a range of agencies over five years. It will assess three different interventions with different levels of service. The simplest intervention is designed to make people more aware of local services they can partake of. The middle-level intervention will help people at high-risk access services. And the most intensive intervention will ensure that people have access to needed community services.

    Here’s more from Just Care: