Cooper University Hospital is the recipient of a $2.8 million, three-year Federal Innovation Grant presented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The Health Care Innovation Award was announced today by CMS. Cooper was selected out of over 3,000 applications from all over the country; only 26 awards were granted.
Cooper, serving the eight southern counties of the state of New Jersey, is receiving this award to better serve over 1,200 patients with complex medical needs who have relied on emergency rooms and hospital admissions for care. The intervention will use care management and care transition teams to work with these patients to reduce avoidable emergency room visits, inpatient hospital admissions and hospital readmissions, and improve their access to primary health care.
This approach is expected to result in better health care outcomes and lower costs with estimated savings of approximately $6.1 million. Over the three-year period, Cooper’s program will train an estimated 14 health care workers, while creating an estimated 14 new jobs. These workers will include non-clinical staff and community health workers who will serve as part of multidisciplinary teams to support care coordination activities.
“We need to be on a clear and sustainable path towards better care in America with new approaches like this to manage chronic illness in our society,” states Jeffrey Brenner, MD, Director of the Institute for Urban Health at Cooper University Hospital and Executive Director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers. “Patients living in the City of Camden, who struggle with complex health conditions, will benefit from this new grant. The funds, received and managed by Cooper, will enable the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers to expand it’s nationally recognized model of care coordination to reach more patients in Camden.
Dr. Brenner applied for the grant on behalf of the care coordination team at Cooper as part of the Camden Coalition of Health Care Providers (CCHP). For the past eight years, CCHP has developed programs that work in conjunction with those on the front lines of healthcare delivery, reducing the amount of Emergency Department and inpatient stays for our patients.
The Coalition championed legislation signed by Governor Christie last year which creates a Medicaid Accountable Care Organization Demonstration Program. The legislative ordinance will permit organizations like the Camden Coalition to receive a portion of the Medicaid savings generated by its projects and creates a sustainable business model once grant funds like these run out.
“This is a remarkable achievement for Cooper, the Coalition and for the region,” said John P. Sheridan, Jr., President and CEO at Cooper. “Our healthcare environment is constantly evolving and we are working to better manage our patient’s needs. We are becoming an example for the rest of the country about how collaborative care is cost effective and is truly beneficial to a patient’s well-being.”