"Strong Start" for Meridian Health Plan and Allegiance Health Partnership to Improve Birth Outcomes

DETROIT, March 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Reaching Year Three of a four-year Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative, a partnership between Meridian Health Plan and Allegiance Health also called the HOME program, is showing early signs of success through increased positive birth outcomes for Jackson County.

"We are encouraged by the promising preliminary results of the HOME program," said Allegiance Health Director of Prevention and Community Health Amy Schultz, M.D. Commenting on these preliminary results, she said, "So far, through this important collaboration, we are seeing decreased preterm deliveries and an increase in birth weight for children born to program participants. Through HOME we are able to best serve some of our most vulnerable community members."

Since its inception in early 2013, the HOME Program, or Health Outcomes for Moms Expecting Program, has been involved in approximately 1/3 of all births in Jackson County. "HOME illustrates the efficacy of maternity care medical homes in supporting women who are at risk of preterm deliveries," said Meridian Health Plan Vice President of Quality and Performance Improvement Dr. Meghan Harris. "Our partnership with Allegiance and local health partners has been vital to our successful implementation and is a project that could be replicated in other communities."

With a rate of 9.3% low birth weight infants and 2.5% very preterm births, Jackson County has had comparably higher rates than State of Michigan averages of 8.5% and 2.3%, respectively. Premature births are a significant public health problem, costing an estimated $26 billion each year nationally from an incidence of more than 500,000 births.

Meridian Health Plan is a family-owned, family-operated health plan with extensive experience in its subsidiary operations in Michigan, Illinois and Iowa. Meridian's affiliates include Medicaid and Medicare health plans and prescription drug plans, a commercial plan available through the Health Insurance Marketplace and MeridianRx, a Pharmacy Benefit Management company. Meridian Health Plan currently serves more than 650,000 members. For more information, visit www.mhplan.com.

Allegiance Health is a 480-bed community-owned health system in Jackson, Michigan. Allegiance complements traditional acute care services with mission-based services to support the care continuum for all members of the community. Through its Health Improvement Organization (HIO), Allegiance is also a national leader in forming community partnerships that innovatively address wellness and prevention needs in the community. Visit AllegianceHealth.org to learn more.

The project described was supported by Grant Number 1D1CMS331149-02-01 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or any of its agencies. The research presented here was conducted by the awardee.  Findings might or might not be consistent with or confirmed by the independent evaluation contractor.

SOURCE Meridian Health Plan

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