CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is dishing out $1.5 million in telemedicine grants to help healthcare providers reach people with behavioral health issues.
The three-year program, officials say, will place a heavy emphasis on sustainability.
"It is CareFirst's mission to provide quality healthcare services to the community it serves, and working to identify ways to increase access to care through telemedicine is a natural area of focus to fulfill that mission," said Maria Harris Tildon, CareFirst's senior vice president of public policy and community affairs, in a press release. "We are focused on proposals that demonstrate an ability to expand access to care through telemedicine which articulates a solid plan for sustainability that would extend beyond our three-year grant-funding period."
The initiative also targets a population that generally suffers from a high incidence of non-adherence. Studies have shown that those with behavioral health issues, including problems with substance abuse, are more likely to skip doctor's appointments or fail to take prescribed medications. Mobile healthcare, ranging from video-conferencing to text-messaging, could bridge that gap by connecting with patient in a more comfortable surrounding – namely, their home.
CareFirst, based in Baltimore, Md., serves some 3.4 million people and groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia and northern Virginia. The 76-year-old insurer is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
According to the press release, CareFirst is seeking proposals from community health centers, non-profits and public health groups that either have a behavioral health program in place or are looking to create or expand one, particularly in underserved areas. Those applying by the November 22 deadline must outline a plan that uses telemedicine to improve patient health outcomes while boosting "access, effectiveness and efficiency in quality care."
"We really want to encourage organizations to take advantage of this unique opportunity to improve the community's access to behavioral health," said Daniel Winn, CareFirst's vice president and senior medical director, in the release. "It's important to find organizations with sound approaches to improving behavioral health clinical outcomes."
This isn't the first time CareFirst has sought to fund programs that help the underserved. In February of 2012, the insurer launched a three-year, $8.5 million initiative to help 12 safety net health centers in its coverage area to implement medical home and care coordination programs for chronically ill members – at that time the company's largest funding effort ever.
In addition, this past August, CareFirst contracted with Cognizant to provide a platform for engaging its members through mobile apps.
"Our move into the mobile space is driven by the growing significance of mobility in the overall connected health effort," Harry D. Fox, CareFirst's senior vice president for technical and operational support services, said in a release. "The ubiquity of smartphones and tablet devices, while rapidly changing customer expectations and operational needs, presents a powerful direct link for us to connect with our members and for our members to better manage their health care."
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