July 7, 2021
Collaboration Resulted in a 106 Percent Increase in Primary Care Visits Among Medicaid Patients in 2020 in the Face of Pandemic Headwinds
Bethesda, Md. and Jackson, Miss. – July 7, 2021 – Aledade and the Community Health Center (CHC) Association of Mississippi today announced results from year-one of their collaboration designed to serve the Medicaid population through Aledade’s primary care-centered accountable care organizations (ACOs). Over 11,000 Mississippi Medicaid patients saw their Aledade primary care physician in 2020, a 106 percent increase from 2019. This is especially significant in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as this joint effort ensured that some of the highest-risk patients received necessary care and services.
“At Aledade, our goal is to provide high-quality care to as many patients as possible using a value-based model rooted in primary care,” said Farzad Mostashari, co-founder and CEO of Aledade. “This joint effort with the CHC Association of Mississippi demonstrates how successful that model can be for helping the traditionally underserved Medicaid population receive better care, even during a pandemic, and how important community relationships are for building a better health care system rooted in value.”
Mississippi’s CHCs serve more than 317,000 unique patients annually. More than 70 percent of these patients are at or below 200 percent of the poverty level; nearly 22 percent enrolled in one of Mississippi’s Medicaid programs, including CHIP; and over 69 percent of these patients are racial or ethnic minorities, according to the state’s 2019 data.
Aledade and the CHC Association of Mississippi developed a comprehensive patient outreach campaign to encourage more Medicaid beneficiaries to access the preventive primary care available to them. After one year of collaboration, Aledade saw a significant increase in annual primary care visits, most notably among school-aged children with a 76 percent increase over the course of the year.
A unique component to this collaboration involved Aledade using its geographic hotspotting data to identify high-risk areas and assisting a participating CHC with deploying a mobile medical unit to deliver care in those underserved communities. The CHCs working with Aledade scheduled these events with local retailers and apartment complexes, and conducted marketing outreach to drive patients to these mobile events. Together, they funded, trained, and supported 20 outreach staff members across 12 participating CHCs to support this effort, ensuring job growth in addition to increased access to care for at-risk communities.
“Mississippi’s CHCs pride themselves on being on the front lines of the effort to provide comprehensive, high-quality health care to the underserved residents of the state,” said Joseph Grice, MPH, IPA Director of the CHC Association of Mississippi. “In not only meeting their medical needs, but also in addressing their social determinants of health, CHCs quite often become a lifeline for those in need. CHCAMS is proud to support CHCs via training and technical assistance, especially within the context of value-based care delivery. Their success in this arena simply underscores the fact that the community health center model of care not only works, but also exceeds expectations and requirements.”
Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, community outreach efforts were extremely important for alerting patients in these communities about services and support available to them during the crisis. By working together with the CHCs, Aledade physicians were able to provide over 32,000 students across 38 schools education about the availability of school-based health centers and telehealth options for receiving primary and preventive care services throughout COVID-related school closures. The CHCs also conducted outreach to over 28,000 patients via postcards and texts to alert them to care opportunities in their community.
Across the country, Aledade ACOs have reduced preventable hospital stays, emergency room visits, and unnecessary medical services, driving more than $400 million in health care cost reductions across Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and commercial payers. Aledade supports physicians with a comprehensive range of capabilities that include: cutting-edge data analytics, user-friendly care management and outreach tools, unparalleled regulatory expertise, strong payer relationships, and local, hands-on support.
About Aledade
Founded in 2014, Aledade partners with independent practices, health centers, and clinics to build and lead Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) anchored in primary care. Through these practice networks, Aledade empowers physicians to stay independent, focus on their patients, and thrive financially by keeping people healthy. Aledade offers a comprehensive range of capabilities at scale, that includes cutting-edge data analytics, user-friendly guided workflows, unparalleled regulatory expertise, strong payer relationships, and local, hands-on support from attentive experts. Together with more than 7,800 participating providers in 31 states, Aledade shares in the risk and reward across dozens of value-based contracts representing more than 1 million patient lives under management. To learn more, visit www.aledade.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.
About Community Health Center Association of Mississippi
The Community Health Center Association of Mississippi is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization comprised of 21 federally-funded Community Health Centers providing quality comprehensive healthcare in accredited medical homes. Our member health centers provide care to over 300,000 patients within 240 sites throughout Mississippi’s underserved communities. Community Health Centers generate more than a quarter of a billion dollars per capita to our state’s economy. For forty years, CHCAMS has provided its members with exceptional training, technical support, and advocacy at the state and federal levels.