Moving Our Medicaid Transformation Plan Forward in 2019

2019 marks an exciting period of transition for Elevate Health as it implements plan for transformation. The pieces are in place. The partners are on board. Now, it’s time to act. After months of planning and preparing, Elevate Health has begun implementing its plan to revolutionize health care in the region. This work is guided by the organization’s Medicaid Transformation ACH Implementation Plan, which was submitted to the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) on October 1, 2018. The plan identifies the milestones, steps, programs, key deliverables and outcomes for how Elevate Health will achieve health care transformation in the region. “Our team spent much of 2018 hard at work on the Implementation Plan and creating critical partnerships with multiple organization in Pierce County,” said Alisha Fehrenbacher, CEO of Elevate Health. “We’ve laid the groundwork, now we’re poised to put that plan into action. Together with our clinical and community partners, we are moving full speed ahead as we begin our deep work of creating impactful, sustainable change for the future of health care in our region.” Priorities in 2019 include growing the Community HUB program to serve more at-risk Medicaid patients through the Pathways program, building a robust health data system to support a shared regional population health strategy, and actively seeking opportunities to advance community health priorities through the Community Resiliency Fund. These projects can benefit a significant number of people in the region; the work impacts providers who serve more than 187,000 Medicaid patients in Pierce County. The new year also brings the transition to Integrated Managed Care (IMC) plans for all Apple Health (Medicaid) patients. This change went into effect in Pierce County January 1 — a full year ahead of the initial goal laid out by the state. In the months leading up to the implementation, Elevate Health used its IMC Learning Network through the Washington Resource Portal to help prepare behavioral health and substance abuse organizations, as well as MCOs and several state entities, for the transition to the IMC payment system. “The early implementation of IMC health plans is a huge step forward in providing whole-person care in Pierce County,” Fehrenbacher said. “We are proud of our role in helping achieve this milestone, and we will continue to support providers during this year of transition.” The initial $1.5 million in Catalyst Funding will also begin making an impact in 2019. Five health care organizations each received a $500,000 award in September to accelerate the implementation of whole-person, integrated care in Pierce County. This work by our Catalyst partners is already underway. Pediatrics Northwest and HopeSparks combined their Catalyst funding to embed behavioral health consultants into primary care settings; MultiCare Health Systems and Sea Mar Community Health Centers are leveraging their awards to improve collaborative care between the two agencies; and CHI Franciscan is using Catalyst funding to expand its collaborative care model and to add community health workers to reduce emergency department visits. “Elevate Health and our partners are already making great strides toward our goal of ensuring everyone in Pierce county has access to quality of life and opportunity through whole-person care,” Fehrenbacher said. “I’m excited to see the progress this coming year holds as we move forward with implementing our plan in the communities we serve.”