Healthcare projects in Cincinnati, OH and Springfield, OR made the list of 20 finalists in the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge.
Springfield wants to make primary care available to everyone through an after-hours house call service. Cincinnati is using data analysis and care coordination to improve prenatal care and lower the rate of premature births and infant death.
The two cities are competing for the $5 million grand prize and four $1 million awards. There are two other projects related to health: Santa Monica wants to measure wellbeing and Providence wants to boost the number of words babies hear every day. The other 16 entries cover everything from urban decay to immigration to an open source predictive analysis platform to help politicians make decisions faster.
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
Both health projects are smart, targeted and practical. Watch the videos for each idea and then vote here for your favorite project.
Springfield’s 21st century house call would be similar to calling 911 for an ambulance but only about half the cost of a trip to the ER. It starts with a call to a nurse who gives advice and may send a Mobile Primary Care Vehicle to provide care. If a house call is needed:
A real-time video, vital signs, and illness or injury assessment of the patient is sent to the doctor by broadband cellular or satellite. The doctor provides follow-up care instructions and the patient is treated and released or transported for further care if needed. Patients who might have other needs such as diet, medication, and mental health or substance abuse issues are referred to appropriate social services agencies for follow up.
Since mobile care costs less than traditional emergency medical services and emergency rooms, access is universally available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. The triple aim of healthcare reform: better care, better health, and lower cost are met in a new, more efficient way.
This isn’t the first time Springfield has developed an innovative healthcare tool. Several years ago we implemented FireMed, a voluntary ambulance membership plan whose members pay an annual fee to receive emergency ambulance service for all members of their household with no out-of-pocket costs. Our program now includes more than 80 FireMed plans throughout Oregon and California.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
When city leaders looked at the data, they found that Cincinnati’s infant mortality rate is more than twice the national average. The analysis also showed that more than half of the deaths occurred in just five zip codes. The health department created a plan to help women in those neighborhoods get pre-natal care as well as follow-up visits after the baby arrived. Mayor Mark Mallory describes the program:
For five years, we have tracked a group of moms throughout their pregnancies and used the data to implement life saving interventions for their babies. The moms in our network have 32% fewer infant deaths than the city as a whole. We want to bring this success citywide through a program called First Steps. From the first steps a pregnant mother takes into a healthcare facility, we want her to be on a path that will lead directly to her seeing the first steps her baby takes.
From the moment a woman finds out that she’s pregnant, we will enroll her in a secure database that follows her through the pregnancy and measures the interventions she receives. Often, these interventions aren’t complicated, but they are proven to save lives. For example, if a pregnant mother quits smoking, her baby has a 20% better chance of seeing its first birthday. Safe sleep is another great example. If a mom learns the best sleep habits for her baby, that baby is much less likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
In addition to saving lives, the program also has shown large decreases in prematurity rates. This leads to healthier babies and saves millions of dollars to healthcare system.
