2016

AmeriHealth Caritas

Winner Blurb: 

AmeriHealth Caritas, through a local affiliate, implemented a comprehensive asthma management program serving Medicaid recipients in southeastern Pennsylvania’s five counties, including Philadelphia. This multifaceted program applies a sustainable approach based on population health, guiding members through a continuum of care that is built on solid evidence and works within AmeriHealth Caritas’ integrated health care management system. Members and network providers can participate in several unique, award-winning initiatives that support the delivery of asthma medication and supplies, asthma education, and home environmental surveys. Since 2012, AmeriHealth Caritas has incorporated asthma-specific measures into its Annual Operating Plan’s Managed Care and Quality goals.

 

In 2015, Philadelphia was ranked the third-worst city for asthma in the United States, with 16,000 children visiting emergency rooms each year for asthma-related causes. The asthma management program serves residents of culturally diverse inner-city environments such as west and northwest Philadelphia, where one out of four children has physician-diagnosed asthma or was admitted to the hospital for wheezing.

 

AmeriHealth Caritas works with local network providers and community-based organizations to deliver a range of services that reach members in their physicians’ offices, homes and communities to enhance existing care management efforts. Simultaneously, AmeriHealth Caritas continuously improves its capability to monitor, assess and refine its offerings based on member, staff and provider feedback.

 

Care managers and support staff guide members by telephone or in person across the continuum of care to (1) identify members with a primary diagnosis of asthma; (2) perform asthma management assessments; (3) categorize patients into risk strata and high-need population groups; (4) implement tailored interventions based on risk profile and social determinants of health; (5) perform reassessments as needed; and (6) monitor outcomes to quantify program effectiveness and financial sustainability. Low-risk members receive general and asthma-focused education through member mailings and are invited to AmeriHealth Caritas-led programs and events. High-risk members receive individual care management assessments, care planning and interventions focused on priority areas (i.e., asthma control action plan, sick day plan, medication management, behavioral risk management and asthma self-management). The asthma action plan incorporates environmental management protocols and helps members contact public and private entities, supporting members’ overall health. Member material—which can be translated into 200 languages on request—is written at a sixth-grade reading level and keeps patients’ cultural needs in mind to help members with limited English proficiency understand medical content.

 

AmeriHealth Caritas partners with the local affiliate’s high-volume network providers, which have led to distinct provider-specific community health worker (CHW) models in northeast Philadelphia, west Philadelphia and Chester tailored to the local demographic and fiscal environments. Trained CHWs, supervised by a medical director, cooperate with the practice- and telephone-based care management system to provide face-to-face care coordination, home health and environmental surveys, and asthma-related education for members and their families while addressing the social determinants impacting members’ health. When environmental asthma triggers are identified, the CHW suggests such actions as installing an air conditioner or new windows, removing carpet, and conducting mold remediation; in some instances, they even provide members with an “asthma home kit” (hypoallergenic mattress and pillowcase covers, storage bins, trash bags, cockroach bait stations and cleaning supplies). To help connect to cultural and health literacy barriers faced by members in their communities, CHWs often are hired from those same communities, and several are bilingual, primarily in Spanish and English.

 

Additional service offerings include provider-led dispensation of asthma medication and supplies and hands-on education during office visits (B.E.S.T. asthma program—Breathe Easy. Start Today.®); school-based clinic partnerships to address member care gaps in asthma medication adherence; and “edutainment” programming (Healthy Hoops®) for children with asthma and their families.

 

From 2013 through 2015, statistically significant improvements were observed in asthma controller medication adherence rates, acute hospitalizations and hospital readmissions. Increases in pharmacy expenditures for asthma medication were more than offset by significant decreases in hospital admission rates. Dozens of provider practices and thousands of members have participated in these asthma-focused initiatives, leading to 327 CHW-led home visits and environmental surveys, as well as the distribution of more than 13,000 asthma medications and supplies and 875 asthma home kits. During this time, hundreds of children with asthma and their families in the community attended Healthy Hoops® programs in the Philadelphia area, where pediatric participants received health screenings (including spirometry, peak flow and spacer education). Asthma action plan consultation stations provided participants with a clinical summary and a blank asthma action plan template to assist their providers in completing an individualized asthma action plan.

Winnner Photo: 
Winner Photo Caption: 

Community health workers provide hands-on community outreach that complement and strengthen AmeriHealth Caritas’ efforts to support members with asthma and improve the quality of health care services they receive. This is accomplished through a range of activities that provide member education and access to health care screenings and innovative programs that improve asthma-related health measures.

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Public Health—Seattle & King County

Winner Blurb: 

During its 20-year history, the King County Asthma Program (KCAP) at Public Health—Seattle & King County has pioneered research and programs in asthma management. Under the guidance of Dr. Jim Krieger, KCAP developed its core programming: home visits with community health workers (CHWs) to reduce asthma triggers in homes and improve asthma outcomes. For 20 years, KCAP’s projects and research have helped build the solid evidence base for this model, which now informs asthma services offered across the nation. To build this program, KCAP program staff have worked with care providers in public health settings, hospital systems, community clinics, health plans, schools, housing agencies and community organizations. Since its original demonstration project began in 1997, KCAP has engaged more than 4,000 patients in programs to manage environmental asthma triggers and improve care delivery for better health outcomes.

 

Building on a deep history of providing asthma services to those most in need, KCAP’s current Guidelines to Practice (G2P) project focuses on coordinating care and services for low-income clients with poorly controlled or uncontrolled asthma, specifically for King County’s African American, Hispanic and Somali communities. These communities are disproportionately affected by asthma and more likely to live in housing that exposes them to asthma triggers. Funded through a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), G2P is KCAP’s most robust program to date. The program coordinates care between the patient, the patient’s health care provider and the patient’s health plan. Experienced CHWs work with patients in their homes to reduce asthma triggers; they also provide case management, support, supplies and resources to help patients self-manage their asthma. Working with several clinics and health plans, KCAP has developed an enhanced electronic health record template that streamlines communication between CHWs, care providers and health plan managers, making it easier for patients to access care. The three care teams are now able to work from a shared asthma care plan.

 

KCAP’s four CHWs have extensive experience working with individuals to improve health outcomes. Some have backgrounds in social work, medical assistance and medical interpretation, but their strongest experience is their deep familiarity with the communities they serve. CHWs have social and cultural connections and shared life experiences with their clients, which helps ensure that KCAP’s care delivery is culturally relevant. The program currently enrolls clients, both adults and children, to receive up to three home visits from a CHW. Each home visit consists of a home environment assessment, assistance with the identification and management of asthma triggers, and a discussion about medication concerns and adherence. The CHW sets self-management goals and provides practical tools to reach those goals, including a free High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) vacuum; HEPA air filters for high-risk patients; allergen-control bed covers; food storage containers; green cleaning kits; and an asthma spacer, peak flow meter and medicine boxes.

 

Many clients face pressing stressors that overshadow asthma as a concern, such as poor housing conditions, housing instability and mental health issues. Although CHWs emphasize asthma management, they can coordinate additional services so that these patients can begin to focus on their asthma. CHWs can connect patients with KCAP’s partners and local agencies offering other clinical and social services. The CHWs’ ability to provide culturally competent, empathetic approaches to the many social and environmental causes of asthma have been a cornerstone of KCAP’s success in asthma care for the past 20 years. KCAP’s programming is expanding to include additional partners that can more directly offer clients asthma-related services. These programs include housing weatherization and repairs specific to respiratory disease, tenant advocacy and legal resources, child care consultation, and training for pharmacists on medication adjustment.

 

In addition to working with clients in their homes, KCAP’s current program works with care providers and health plans to change systems and improve delivery of services in the community. KCAP is working with 13 clinics and two health plans to improve clinical care guidelines; equip clinics with spirometry and allergy testing; and optimize electronic health records to improve communication and care coordination between care providers, patients, CHWs and health plans. It also is working with two health plans to improve their Medicaid Managed Care Plans, adding such components as enhanced case management, medication monitoring, and provider notification of emergency room visits or hospital discharge.

 

KCAP’s extensive body of work in environmental asthma management and care coordination is evident in the successful patient outcomes throughout the program’s history. KCAP’s pioneering efforts with the CHW model and care coordination have contributed to decreases in asthma-related hospitalizations and urgent care use, increases in patient and caregiver quality of life, and a greater overall return on investment when compared to standard care. KCAP continues to build the evidence base for the CHW model and patient-centered asthma care, and it serves as an exemplar for asthma care delivery across Washington state and nationwide.

Winnner Photo: 
Winner Photo Caption: 

Over 20 years, King County Asthma Program’s (KCAP) Community Health Worker programs have reached over 4,000 patients in programs to manage environmental asthma triggers and improve care delivery for better health outcomes. Above, CHWs, program staff, and project partners from KCAP’s Guidelines to Practice project.

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Urban Health Plan(UHP)

Winner Blurb: 

Urban Health Plan (UHP) is a network of nine community health centers and nine school-based health centers located in the South Bronx, NY—the poorest congressional district in the country—and in Corona, Queens, NY. Located within UHP’s catchment area, in Hunts Point, Bronx, is the largest food distribution center in the country. As a result of the traffic and pollution generated by the trucks used to distribute food, Hunts Point has one of the highest asthma rates in New York City. Due to the incidence and prevalence of asthma in this area, and because many of UHP’s patients are unaware that they have asthma, early diagnosis is critical. By integrating asthma care into primary care, all patients are screened for asthma every 6 months, including those with no history of asthma. In 2009, 1,000 patients were screened and 22 percent were diagnosed with asthma.

 

Asthma Relief Street, UHP’s asthma management program, cares for more than 12,000 people with asthma using a multidisciplinary program that is fully integrated into its primary care practice. The primary care provider, health educator and medical assistant (MA) work closely with UHP’s allergists, pulmonologists, social service workers and the integrated pest management program, as well as with New York City Asthma Intervention and Relief (a.i.r. nyc), to provide integrated health care services.

 

UHP has created long-lasting relationships with community organizations and has partnered with local hospitals and the neighborhood’s shelters to provide support and asthma education to their constituencies. UHP works closely with the New York City Department of Health’s New York City Asthma Partnership, a citywide coalition that brings together more than 400 community-based organizations and individuals to make recommendations to improve citywide policies and systems that affect people with asthma. This partnership is coordinated by the New York City Asthma Initiative.

 

UHP has developed a unique workflow algorithm to help identify patients and optimize appropriate treatment and followup. Any patient who visits UHP for primary health care services, whether he or she is an asthma patient or not, meets with an MA who ask a series of questions about asthma and asthma risks, following UHP’s asthma template or asthma-screening template. This visit with the MA is followed by a visit with the primary care provider, who reviews the patient’s responses to the MA’s questions about signs and symptoms and the Asthma Control Test, focusing on medication use; reviews and updates the patient’s Asthma Action Plan as needed; and answers any patient questions. Following the visit with the provider, a health educator holds a counseling session with the patient and reviews five asthma lesson plans: (1) definition of asthma (2) the signs symptoms of exacerbations (3) recommendations on remediation in the home to address environmental triggers (4) differences between "controller" and "rescue" medications (5) and understanding of spirometry and exhaled nitric oxide. Health educators also address any concerns the patient might have about asthma management. This process is repeated during all visits.

 

UHP’s goal is to empower patients and families to better manage their illness, so patients are encouraged to set self-management goals with the asthma health educator. The five-lesson asthma curriculum, which was developed by UHP clinicians, is used to educate both patients and their families. Using a self-management tool box that includes placebo medications, spacers, peak flow meters, masks, and sample Asthma Action Plans (AAPs), the health educator provides hands-on demonstrations on how to use the metered dose inhalers, dry powdered inhalers and nebulizers. Through an arrangement with various vendors, nebulizer compressors and aerochambers are provided to patients who need this equipment for treatment at home. This allows the health educator to provide hands-on demonstrations on how to use the machine and to provide cleaning and storage instructions to patients.

 

As of December 2015—

  • 89 percent of UHP’s patients have had a severity assessment.
  • 99 percent of patients with a severity assessment of “persistent asthma” are treated with anti inflammatory medications.
  • 50 percent of UHP’s patients have documented self-management goals.
  • 56 percent of UHP’s patients receive the influenza vaccine each year.
  • 3 percent of UHP’s patients had urgent care or emergency department visits in the previous 6 months and an average of 11 symptom-free days and 0.156 work/school days lost per month.
Winnner Photo: 
Winner Photo Caption: 

The Urban Health Plan Asthma team: Back row: Caridad Taura, health educator; Samuel DeLeon, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs. Front row: Health educators Grace Baez, Vanessa Montanez and Kelly Chacon; Acklema Mohammad, MD, Chair, Pediatrics and asthma physician champion; Christine Torres, health educator.

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