Regional Projects by Program Area: Integrated Health Care

2010

Connecticut:  A $25,000 grant from the Aetna Foundation is helping Project Access-New Haven increase the ability of underinsured and uninsured patients to see medical specialists, who might otherwise not treat patients on Medicaid or without health insurance.  The program brings together specialists who donate their services and hospitals that donate lab work and other testing to treat patients in urgent need of specialty health care.  Each patient is assigned a patient navigator who addresses barriers to access, coordinates care plans between providers, and fosters an environment of trust and understanding as the patient confronts an often confusing health care system to treat their heath conditions. 

District of Columbia: A $37,500 grant from the Aetna Foundation is helping the District of Columbia Primary Care Association refine its innovative Community Health Worker training program to become a standardized community college certificate-based curriculum. The goal is to build a workforce of trained paraprofessionals who will be placed in a variety of health care settings to serve as a trusted link between patients and health care professionals, advance coordinated communication among providers, raise health literacy levels and patient engagement and reduce barriers to health care.

Maryland: A $50,000 grant from the Aetna Foundation supports the Healthy Howard Health Plan’s personal health coaching program, an integrated care innovation that provides face-to-face meetings with each of the plan’s members to develop individualized health action plans and encourage the attainment of health goals.  The Healthy Howard Health Plan is an unusual health program providing comprehensive affordable access to health care services for Howard County residents whose income is too high to qualify for public entitlement programs but who otherwise are not able to afford private health insurance. In addition to providing a primary care medical home for its members, the plan provides a wide range of pro-bono specialist services as well as free emergency room and hospital care.

New Jersey: A $30,000 award from the Aetna Foundation Shore Memorial Health Foundation supports a new effort to improve coordination and communication among health care professionals by integrating palliative care in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at its facilities. The palliative care/ICU project will facilitate collaboration among physicians, clinical staff, the patient and their family to manage physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual symptoms.

New York: A $25,000 Aetna Foundation grant to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis supports the organization’s Patient Navigation & Care Coordination program.  The initiative is designed to improve health outcomes for HIV-positive or high-risk clients by offering expanded case management services to eliminate gaps in communication among providers and ensure clients are both informed and involved in their own care. By coordinating with outside providers as well as in-house counselors, the program aims to ensure all participants in a patient's care are kept abreast of his or her needs, abilities, and course of treatment.

Pennsylvania: A $50,000 grant from the Aetna Foundation supports the Keystone Community Care Continuum, a collaboration between PinnacleHealth System and five community clinics to improve access to and integration of care for underserved populations in Harrisburg who often use emergency services to address basic health needs and do not pursue follow-up care or diagnostic services because of financial concerns.   Through the use of social workers, the program is designed to improve coordination and communication of patients’ care, diagnostic needs and results among the providers. 

Texas: In central Texas, more than one out every four residents lacks health insurance.  A $15,000 Aetna Foundation grant to the Seton Community Health Centers in Austin is helping the clinics increase low-income patients’ access to needed medical care and social services. Founded to provide a medical home for the working poor, the Seton Community Health Centers offer primary medical care and chronic disease management, enabling children and families to avoid unnecessary emergency room visits and the financial burden associated with emergency care.