Greater Newark Accountable Care Organization Wins Certification
ACO is designed to improve access to care, provide home supportive services and enhance care for chronically ill children
Greater Newark residents are receiving a major enhancement in health care quality and access.
The New Jersey Department of Human Services has certified Healthy Greater Newark ACO as a Medicaid accountable care organization to serve three zip codes where the need for health care services is high.
Healthy Greater Newark ACO is designed to enhance access to care, reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency room visits, and improve care for chronically ill children.
The Healthy Greater Newark ACO covers zip codes 07103, 07108 and 07112 in Newark.
"These areas have been found to have a significant number of people who experience higher rates of emergency room visits and a greater rate of hospital admissions than those living in other parts of the city,” said Denise V. Rodgers, chair of the board of directors of Healthy Greater Newark ACO. “Not only will the ACO improve access to care, it will provide supportive services to people in their homes and in the community. This will have a significant impact in reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency room visits that place enormous burdens on the patients themselves and our area hospitals.”
Rodgers, vice chancellor for interprofessional programs at Rutgers Biomedical Health Services, also said that the ACO will focus on improving care for chronically ill children, as well as enhancing perinatal and maternal health services.
The Greater Newark Health Care Coalition, chaired by John Brennan, president and CEO of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, played a key role in the establishment of Healthy Greater Newark ACO, which has been in development for several years.
To support Healthy Greater Newark ACO, the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services in the New Jersey Department of Human Services will provide claims data for beneficiaries of services who live in the designated zip codes.
“Throughout the country, health care is moving out of hospitals and into outpatient settings,” Rodgers said. “Healthy Greater Newark ACO is an opportunity to help strengthen availability and access to primary care for Newark residents and to demonstrate how our expertise can be a model for other ACOs. We're grateful to The Nicholson Foundation for its support of the New Jersey Medicaid ACO community thus far and look forward to striving together for better care of our residents.”
ACOs are groups of health care providers and facilities that voluntarily join a coordinated effort to provide quality care primarily in underserved areas.
On Wednesday, July 1, at 12:30 p.m., the QI Collaborative will host a webinar and teleconference with the applicants to discuss their plans for the first year of the demonstration project, and how they plan to improve quality, improve patient experience, and reduce health care costs in their regions.
To sign up for the webinar, click here.
For more information, contact Jeff Tolvin at 973-972-4501 or jeff.tolvin@rutgers.edu