The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued its new Strategic Framework on Multiple Chronic Conditions ― an innovative private-public sector collaboration to coordinate responses to a growing challenge.
The new strategic framework ― coordinated by HHS and involving input from agencies within the department and multiple private sector stakeholders ― expects to reduce the risks of complications and improve the overall health status of individuals with multiple chronic conditions by fostering change within the system; providing more information and better tools to help health professionals ― as well as patients ― learn how to better coordinate and manage care; and by facilitating research to improve oversight and care.
The management of multiple chronic conditions has major cost implications for both the country and individuals.
HHS has taken action in recent months to improve the health of individuals with multiple chronic conditions. Some examples include:
- Administration on Aging (AoA)/ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator (CMS)
AoA and CMS jointly announced $67 million in grants to support outreach activities that encourage prevention and wellness, options counseling and assistance programs, and care transition programs to improve health outcomes in older Americans.
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
AHRQ awarded more than $18 million dollars (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) in two categories of grant awards to understand how to optimize care of patients with multiple chronic conditions.
- Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
As part of an existing $40 million ASPE contract, the National Quality Forum is undertaking a project to develop and endorse a performance measurement framework for patients with multiple chronic conditions.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
CDC is supporting a new project ― Living Well with Chronic Disease: Public Health Action to Reduce Disability and Improve Functioning and Quality of Life ― in which the Institute of Medicine will convene a committee of independent experts to examine the burden of multiple chronic conditions and the implications for population-based public health action.
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
CMS has provided recent guidance to State Medicaid directors on a new optional benefit available Jan. 1, 2011, through the Affordable Care Act, to provide health homes for enrollees with at least two chronic conditions, or for those with one chronic condition who are at risk for another.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
SAMHSA awarded $34 million in new funding to support the Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration Program, which seeks to promote the integration of care with people with co-occurring conditions.
For more information about the new HHS Strategy on Multiple Chronic Conditions, go to: http://www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/mcc/