In its first year, an innovative privately funded program is showing promise in reversing the devastating impact of chronic diabetes among 10,000 Miami Dade residents. During National Diabetes Month in November, the Care Management Medical Home Center (CMMHC) released data showing that patients participating in the program have shown significant improvement in several key diabetes benchmarks: 27 percent have shown better control of their diabetes by reducing their HbA1c levels; total patients keeping their doctor appointments are up by 12 percent and patients completing tests recommended by their doctor is up by 34 percent.
“These are remarkable results, considering the CMMHC is less than a year old,” said Health Choice Network of Florida CEO Kevin Kearns. “The positive data shows that patients are taking a stronger role in the management of their diabetes.”
The CMMHC is funded by a three-year $2.9 million grant from the GE Foundation’s Developing Health™ aimed at serving diabetic patients at local federally-qualified community health centers. Developing Health is a $50 million effort to increase access to primary care in underserved populations in targeted communities throughout the United States.
The majority of targeted high-need patients have little or no health insurance and the goal of the program is to assist the patients to better manage their diabetes to avoid hospitalization and emergency visits. As the end of its first year of operation approaches, the CMMCH is expanding innovative methods such as group medical appointments and implementing an extensive group education program.
The CMMHC is a centralized center at HCNFL that assists the local health center teams by providing high quality, effective and efficient care management services to patients and analysis of population health data. In future years, the program will result in millions of dollars in savings for the region’s health systems. The CMMHC employs the latest centralized data registry and electronic medical record systems, allowing the Center to manage appointments, identify health trends and improve diabetic patient outcomes.
“The CMMHC consistently engages patients in the care process,” said Anthony Amofah, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Community Health of South Florida. “This removes barriers that have traditionally impeded effective treatment in our underserved communities.” Dr. Amofah added that the medical home model replaces episodic care with a coordinated, long-term relationship focused on prevention. It has emerged as a promising alternative to the nation’s fragmented health system.
