IEHP Launches Health Home Model in 10 Community Clinics

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Jan. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To strengthen the partnership between patients and their healthcare team, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) has kicked off a pilot program utilizing the proven health home model in ten Riverside family care center clinics.

As a joint effort between IEHP and Riverside County Health System (RCHS), the pilot helps enhance care for approximately 12,500 patients in the following clinics:  

• Banning Family Care Center
• Corona Family Care Center
• Hemet Family Care Center
• Indio Family Care Center
• Jurupa Family Care Center
• Lake Elsinore Family Care Center
• Palm Springs Family Care Center
• Perris Family Care Center
• Riverside Neighborhood Family Care Center
• Rubidoux Family Care Center

Each clinic applies health home components in the care setting focusing on team-based care, data exchange and access to care.

IEHP enlisted Colorado-based Health Team Works to assist in the development of a robust implementation plan, starting with a comprehensive assessment of each clinic. Assessments included on-site visits to evaluate workflows, processes, average length of time for scheduled visits and interviews with physicians and clinic staff.

Clinics were shown how to design a multi-disciplinary team that collectively shares the responsibility of managing patient care, specifically preventive care and chronic disease management. According to their role in the clinic, team members, including physicians, nurses and office coordinators received customized training on teaching patients how to effectively manage their healthcare, how to conduct action planning and how to conduct motivational interviewing.

Between the clinics and IEHP, a framework for data exchange was built to support the medical teams, providing essential real-time patient data, such as preventive care and lab results. The second phase of data exchange, expected this winter, includes implementing a new system, enabling clinics to more efficiently improve patient health outcomes in areas such as chronic disease management.

Developing best practices will help IEHP plan for the design and expansion of the health home model across the IEHP provider network.

"Our partnership with RCHS is vital in helping IEHP create a road map to assist our community clinics and providers in achieving health home status," said Dr. Bradley Gilbert, IEHP chief executive officer.

To improve access and maximize the number of patients seen per day, a centralized scheduling department was created whereby patients can call one number to make an appointment at any of the ten clinics, allowing clinics to offer more same day appointments.

"Health homes will help us better integrate systems of care for our members," said Dr. William Henning, IEHP chief medical officer. "Using a team-based approach to care and providing clinics more data from the member's medical history will help us to deliver even better care."

The pilot is supported by a $500,000 grant from Community Clinics Initiative (a joint project of Tides and The California Endowment).

IEHP, Inland Empire Health Plan, a Knox-Keene licensed health plan located in San Bernardino, California, is a not-for-profit public agency. IEHP services San Bernardino and Riverside counties and has over 575,000 members in the following programs: Medi-Cal (including seniors and people with disabilities), Healthy Families, Healthy Kids, and a Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plan. Through a dynamic partnership with providers, award-winning service and innovative products, IEHP is fully committed to providing members with quality, accessible and wellness based healthcare services. www.iehp.org.

Health TeamWorks is a non-profit multi-stakeholder collaborative, working to redesign the healthcare delivery system and promote integrated communities of care, using evidence-based medicine and innovative systems. Our goals are to optimize health, improve quality and safety, reduce costs, and improve the care experience for patients and their healthcare teams.

SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP)