Independence Blue Cross Announces Winners of Clinical Care Innovation Grants

Telemedicine services to reduce opioid use disorder, a food-as-medicine program to address maternal morbidity and mortality, and a texting platform to promote appropriate use of antibiotics women with recurrent urinary tract infections were among the efforts selected by Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross for clinical care innovation grants, the insurer announced today.

“Based on the success we have of collaborating, developing and scaling these grant-funded initiatives, I know these projects will help enhance patients’ access to care, experience and outcomes,” said Rodrigo Cerdá, M.D., M.P.H., senior vice president of health services and chief medical officer, at the Independence Blue Cross in a news release. Cerdá is a member of the Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisory board.

This year that the Independence, one of the largest insurers in the country, has awarded the innovation grants,

Here are the four winning programs:

Telemedicine services to support patients eligible to receive medication for opioid use disorder. George Jaffe, M.D., M.S. Ed., clinical assistant professor and co-director, scholarly inquiry, population health research at Jefferson Health, is developing a program that implements universal screening for opioid use order and provides patients a chance to “engage” with medications for the disorder via telemedicine. The program also includes wraparound services that can help with successful treatment.

A food-for-health program to improve maternal health. Sofia Carreno, M.S.N., a nursing professional development specialist for community engagement at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Jessie Reich, Ph.D.,, director of patient experience and magnet programs at Penn Medicine, have developed a program that teams up nursing school students with community health workers to help identify patients with food insecurity. The goal is to improve maternal morbidity and mortality among high-risk Black, Indigenous and People of Color patients by screen theming and referring them to comprehensive food access programs.

Algorithm-based texting platform to improve access and promote antibiotic stewardship among women with recurrent urinary tract infections. Lily Arya, M.D., M.S., chief of the Division of Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery at Penn Medicine, has developed a project that uses a texting platform called UroTrust that guides patient self-management of urinary tract infections. The platform gives patients access to evidence-based steps when they are experiencing the symptoms of an infection and educational videos,

Advancing equity and access to oncologic care. Rachel Rubin, M.D., section chief at Temple University Hospital; Dharmini Shah Pandya, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple; and Claire Raab, M.D., president and CEO of Temple faculty physicians, have initiative that builds upon Temple’s multivisit patient clinic model that integrates clinical care with social resources. The main objective of the model is to enhance access to equitable cancer care for the residents of North Philadelphia. The model emphasizes addressing the social determinants of health and a high-touch, trauma-informed approach to speed up evaluation of abnormal testing for early cancer diagnosis.