Revere Health Center gets primary care help

REVERE – Half a million dollars in state health care money will assist Revere Health Center and 13 other centers in providing direct primary care to their patients.Health centers provide patient-centered health care through teams of doctors and nurses, coordinated patients’ needs, including management of chronic conditions, visits to specialists, hospital admissions and reminding patients when they need check-ups and tests.”Massachusetts has been extraordinarily successful in implementing health care reform, but true reform is about far more than having an insurance card. In order to ensure access to care, we must strengthen the practice of primary care in Massachusetts by reforming the way we pay for primary care and by supporting practice to reflect the advances we have made in prevention and the care of chronic diseases,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.In addition to the $500,000 in grant funding, the state will receive technical assistance from Qualis Health, a health improvement organization, working in concert with the MacColl Institute for Health Care Innovation. Participation in the program also includes a comprehensive evaluation by the University of Chicago.”This initiative is a key building block in MassHealth’s strategic effort to deliver the highest quality care to our members at the greatest value to taxpayers,” said Thomas Dehner, Massachusetts’ Medicaid Director. “We look forward to being a part of the Commonwealth’s efforts to transform the practice and enhance the quality of primary care.”The grant funding is provided through a Safety Net Medical Home Initiative led by the Commonwealth Fund of New York and implemented by Qualis Health. The Commonwealth Fund is joined in support of the project by regional co-funders. In Massachusetts, the co-funders include Partners HealthCare, The Boston Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.”We are appreciative of this recognition and opportunity to work collaboratively with the state to enhance services at community health centers. Together we will work to maximize health care reform to address health care needs and system changes to assure that we continue to bring quality and access to the patients and communities we serve,” said James W. Hunt, Jr., President and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. “This collaborative reflects a creative set of partnerships to assure quality.”