Community Health Teams Are Helping Medicaid Programs Manage Care for High-Need Patients
<p>To provide more effective and efficient care for beneficiaries with complex health needs, Medicaid programs in some states have turned to a form of resource-sharing known as community health teams to augment the capacity of physician practices. Comprising professionals from a range of fields―from nursing and behavioral health to pharmacy and social work―these local community-based networks may be a viable way to reduce health care costs and improve quality, while enabling resource-strained practices to offer an array of comprehensive medical home services. </p><p>In a <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2013/may/care-management-medicaid-enrollees-through-community-health">new report</a> from The Commonwealth Fund and the National Academy for State Health Policy, Mary Takach and Jason Buxbaum examine multidisciplinary community health team programs in eight states that serve a combined 2.1 million Medicaid beneficiaries. The report sheds light on how the programs came about and how they operate, what their sources of financing are, and how they use data to assess effectiveness. </p>
<p>Visit <a href="">www.commonwealthfund.org</a> to learn how shared-resource models like community health teams can enable smaller primary care practices to thrive under new payment models that demand value and accountability. </p>