INDIANAPOLIS — Community Health Network Foundation recently received $2,560,494 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to address the unmet health-related social needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries on the east side of Indianapolis by bridging the gap between clinical and community service providers. Social needs include housing instability, food insecurity, utility needs, interpersonal violence and transportation.
Community is one of only 32 organizations in the country — and the only organization in Indiana — selected to receive the award, which is part of CMS’ three-prong Accountable Health Communities (AHC) model, consisting of Assistance, Alignment and Awareness Tracks. As an organization participating in the AHC Assistance Track, Community will now have the financial resources needed to improve clinical-community collaboration by screening high-risk beneficiaries, identifying social needs that may impact their health and connecting them with the right community resources that could help.
Specifically, CMS’ financial support will enable Community to partner with the Eastside Redevelopment Committee, an organization representing 50 businesses and community-based organizations focused on improving health through high-quality support services, educational programs and workforce development. In coordination with The Jane Pauley Community Health Center, Community Physician Network, Community Behavioral Health and Community Hospital East Emergency Department and inpatient care, they will serve residents on the east side with an intent to reduce health care costs for high-risk beneficiaries who receive navigation services. Work will begin under CMS guidance on May 1, 2017.
Funding, disbursed over a five-year period, is expected to impact more than 70,000 individuals on the east side of Indianapolis, where 40 percent of the population received Indiana Medicaid services in 2015 and the emergency room utilization rate is above the national average. In addition, a significant number of adults and children in this area live below the poverty line, and the average life expectancy is 7.5 years less than the north side of Indianapolis.