Comprehensive Care Connections (C3), a private non-profit corporation created by the Area Agencies on Aging in Pennsylvania, has launched a strategic initiative positioning its members to leverage technology for success with emerging models of home and community based long term services and supports (LTSS). Beginning with Community HealthChoices (CHC), a Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA) program to use managed care organizations (MCOs) for the coordination of physical health care and LTSS, C3 will provide its members and their health plan customers with several distinct advantages, including streamlined automation, interoperability and secure access to data and analytics.
Recognizing that effective technology will enable superior outcomes for its members, their business partners and the consumers they serve, C3 has contracted with Long Term Care Innovation, Inc. (LTCI), to lead a comprehensive process for identifying objectives, defining needs, evaluating options, selecting solutions and implementing technology. Work on the project began earlier this month.
As Pennsylvania implements its Medicaid managed LTSS (MLTSS) model, sweeping changes are impacting home and community based services (HCBS). Through its collaborative approach, C3 will provide its member Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) greater operational capabilities and efficiencies which will in turn enable each AAA to expand its geographic reach while at the same time offer a competitive suite of high quality, person-centered services to the managed care organizations’ beneficiaries. The C3 advantage capitalizes on the AAAs’ more than 40 years of experience in delivering comprehensive HCBS, providing MCOs with trusted and knowledgeable partners skilled at delivering coordinated services for the most vulnerable consumers in the community.
“95% of Pennsylvanians want to age at home,” says Jason Kunzman, Executive Director of Comprehensive Care Connections. “Managed care represents an exciting opportunity for the Commonwealth’s Area Agencies on Aging to transform how services are delivered so that older persons and adults with disabilities can in fact remain in the community. We look forward to our partnership with LTCI to help navigate the technology waters of this important initiative.”
Being effective partners in CHC and other value-based programs demands strong, secure and nimble technology platforms, interoperability, access to real-time data, and powerful analytics. By leveraging a unified technology solution stack for encounter-level data and population-level analytics, C3 members will maximize the value they deliver to the CHC MCOs and other healthcare business partners. Through its adopted technology platform, C3 will enable its members to proactively maximize quality and performance and will be positioned for bi-directional data exchange, all while recognizing substantial cost savings. “One of the key factors for community based organizations such as C3 in partnering with MCOs is being able to meet their demand for technological capacity” said Camille Dobson, former Senior Policy Advisor for Medicaid Managed Care at CMS and current Deputy Executive Director for the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD). “C3 will be poised for success in Community HealthChoices.”
Specialists in IT consulting for LTSS, Long Term Care Innovation, Inc. (LTCI) will oversee a process through which C3 will select and implement a technology solution set which supports the strategic objectives of its members and boosts their ability to package and deliver competitive, cutting-edge HCBS services and service coordination to the LTSS market place. “Pennsylvania’s CHC initiative is part of the explosion in Managed LTSS models being rolled out nationwide. C3’s forward-looking strategy for IT demonstrates a market-focused savvy which will pay dividends for years to come”, said LTCI CEO John Byer. “LTCI is proud to have been chosen to assist with the important work to select and implement solutions which will help C3 members to deliver the greatest value to their business partners and the consumers they serve,” added LTCI President Tom Laba.
With members spanning most geographic areas of Pennsylvania, C3 is uniquely positioned to help its members develop consistent service and cost models, speak with a unified voice in contract negotiations, expand to additional markets and achieve economies of scale. The CHC model will roll out in regional phases, beginning with southwest Pennsylvania in July 2017.
Comprehensive Care Connections (C3) brings together Pennsylvania’s Area Agencies on Aging, in collaboration with managed care organizations, to deliver a full range of high-quality, person-centered care that ensures older Pennsylvanians live and thrive in their communities. C3 offers these organizations administrative support, health IT infrastructure, and broader reach to service providers and those individuals who need their assistance most. Contact: jkunzman@comprehensivecareconnections.org.
Long Term Care Innovation, Inc. is a Vermont-based IT consulting firm specializing in HCBS. With more than 18 years’ experience working directly with HCBS organizations and technology for HCBS, the LTCI team has worked with stakeholders in 40+ states nationwide. LTCI helps long term care stakeholders clarify objectives; define both short-term and long-term needs; evaluate, select and implement solutions (or re-configure existing ones); and manage interoperability with partners, including exchanges and health plans. Visit the LTCI website at www.ltcinnovation.com. Contact: info@ltcinnovation.com.