Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative awarded Vanderbilt University and three partners – including us ‒ a $28 million grant.
Our share of the money – $3.4 million – will be used to equip Baptist Medical Group and Select Health Alliance physicians with the tools, information and support needed to enhance quality of care, increase patients’ access to information, and spend health care dollars more wisely. The doctors will need these resources because Medicare will soon change the way they pay physicians, placing more emphasis on ensuring patients get the regular exams and treatments they need to stay healthy.
Specifically, we’ll focus on improving care for patients with some of our community’s biggest health challenges: diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and asthma. We’re also boosting prevention efforts by encouraging wellness visits, vaccination and cancer screenings. We’ll help physicians connect their patients with community resources that will help them maintain their health and wellness.
I sit on the Mid-South Practice Transformation Network, the committee charged with overseeing this initiative, and so far, it has been extremely successful. About 400 Baptist-affiliated doctors have already committed to participate, and our goal is to have 1,500 participating physicians within the next four years.
I would like to thank our team members who are working on this initiative and those who will be engaged in the future. We want to give our physician partners the opportunity to transform their practices in preparation for the future of health care delivery. Doing so will help ensure they can continue to provide exceptional care for their patients.