Under the Affordable Care Act, states may apply for federal funding to provide “Health Homes” to Medicaid eligible participants with chronic illnesses. Missouri’s “Health Homes” initiative is examining the “MO HealthNet Primary Care Health Home Initiative” to see if the initiative will be able to achieve high quality primary care, be cost-effective, increase available resources at primary care practice sites, and improve care coordination to result in improved patient outcomes.
According to the “Provider Bulletin” published on June 13th, by the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS), the MO HealthNet Primary Care Health Home Initiative is making progress. The Health Home has many of the same characteristics of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) but is customized to meet the specific needs of low-income patients with chronic medical conditions.
Currently, the Health Home Initiative is under review by CMS and right now DSS is seeking Primary Care Practice Sites comprised of licensed physicians collaborating with other licensed healthcare professionals including nurse practitioners and physician assistants to serve as Health Homes for MO HealthNet participants. Applications are due July 11, 2011.
DSS will require reports such as monthly narrative practice reports, monthly clinical quality indicator reports using clinical data within the Practice’s patient registry or a third-party data repository, periodic submission of Health Home Implementation quotient survey scores, and other reports as specified by DSS.
Go to http://dss.mo.gov/mhd/providers/pdf/bulletin33-44_2011jun13.pdf to view the Bulletin with further information.
