The Mayo Clinic and its partners have received nearly $60 million in funding from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to enhance health care services. These funds will bolster critical care in intensive care units for Medicare and Medicaid recipients, improve treatment and results for those with depression and either diabetes or heart disease, and engage patients with chronic conditions and their relatives more effectively in health decisions.
“We are thankful to CMMI for acknowledging the dedication of our doctors, researchers, and partners in promoting care that is both patient-focused and of high value,” states John Noseworthy, M.D., the CEO and president of Mayo Clinic. “Irrespective of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act or the evolution of health care reform politically, our dedication to innovation and patient-focused, high-value care will persist. What will always stay the same is our unwavering commitment to addressing patient needs.”
The Health Care Innovation Awards allocate up to $1 billion in grants for applicants who propose innovative strategies to enhance health, improve care, and lower costs for those enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, particularly targeting those with the most significant health care needs.
“These grants are essential for revolutionizing how health care is experienced by patients in the United States,” mentions Veronique Roger, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. This center rigorously evaluates, validates, and implements innovative health care delivery models. “Ultimately, health care should focus on treating patients in ways that achieve the best outcomes and quality of life as efficiently as possible.”
Project I: Patient-Centered Electronic Environment for Enhancing Acute Care Performance
Role: Leader Mayo Clinic Lead Investigators: Ognjen Gajic, M.D.; Brian Pickering, M.B., B.Ch. Geographic Reach: Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma Funding Amount: $16,035,264 Estimated Three-Year Savings for Government Programs: $81,345,987
Summary: The Mayo Clinic, in partnership with the US Critical Illness and Injury Trials Group and Philips Research North America, has received a grant to improve ICU performance for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Data indicates that 27% of such beneficiaries in ICUs encounter preventable treatment errors due to the overwhelming information for ICU providers. The Mayo Clinic’s model aims to optimize data use with a Cloud-based system integrating a centralized data repository, electronic surveillance, and quality care response measurement. This approach is expected to decrease ICU complications and costs.
Over three years, the Mayo Clinic will train 1,440 existing ICU caregivers across four diverse hospital systems in using new health information technologies for ICU patient management.
Mayo Clinic’s expertise: The Mayo Clinic provides informatics expertise to convert data into practical clinical knowledge. Other informatics-dependent initiatives at Mayo Clinic funded by grants include the Rochester Epidemiology Project, Beacon, Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) Program, and the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities.
Project II: Care Management of Mental and Physical Comorbidities: A Triple Aim Bullseye
Role: Collaborator Mayo Clinic Lead Investigator: Mark Williams, M.D. Geographic Reach: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan, Washington, Colorado, Massachusetts Funding Amount: $17,999,635 Estimated Three-Year Savings for Government Programs: $27,693,046
Summary: The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) in Bloomington, Minnesota, is receiving a grant to enhance care and outcomes for high-risk adult patients covered by Medicare or Medicaid with depression and either diabetes or cardiovascular disease. The program involves care managers and healthcare teams assessing condition severity, monitoring care via a computerized registry, preventing relapse, intensifying or modifying treatment as needed, and transitioning beneficiaries to self-management.
Over three years, ICSI and its partners will train approximately 80 care managers for this innovative model.
Partnering care systems include clinics in ICSI, Mayo Clinic Health System, Kaiser Permanente in Colorado and Southern California, Community Health Plan of Washington, Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, Michigan Center for Clinical Systems Improvement, and Mount Auburn Cambridge Independent Practice Association, supported by HealthPartners Research Foundation and AIMS (Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions).
Mayo Clinic’s expertise: Mayo Clinic contributes expertise in care coordination, demonstrated through successful partnerships like the DIAMOND project for depression management. Results are accessible at www.mnhealthscores.org; two Mayo primary care sites are state leaders. Mayo has also developed an integrated behavioral health program in primary care.
Project III: Engaging Patients through Shared Decision Making: Using Patient and Family Activators to Meet the Triple Aim
Role: Collaborator Mayo Clinic Lead Investigator: Doug Wood, M.D. Geographic Reach: California, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington Funding Amount: $26,172,439 Estimated Three-Year Savings for Government Programs: $63,798,577
Summary: The Dartmouth College Board of Trustees is awarded a grant to collaborate with 15 large healthcare systems nationwide, including Mayo Clinic, to employ Patient and Family Activators (PFAs). The PFAs will be trained in shared decision-making with patients and their families, focusing on preferences and providing sensitive care options.
PFAs may work with patients at a single decision point or over multiple visits for those with chronic conditions. This intervention aims to reduce utilization and costs and yield valuable data on patient engagement and decision-making processes, leading to new outcomes measures for patient and family involvement in shared decision-making.
Over three years, the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees-sponsored program will train 5,775 healthcare workers and create 48 positions for patient and family activators.
Mayo Clinic’s expertise: This project is part of the High Value Health Care Collaborative (HVHC), with Mayo Clinic as a founding member. HVHC identifies and shares best practices with other healthcare institutions for mutual benefit. Founded in 2010, HVHC focuses on nine conditions with high volume, cost, and variation, aiming to improve care and outcomes, reduce variation, and lower costs.