HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SCIOinspire Corp., a premier health analytics services player, announced that—along with its partners Finity Communications and Health Partners of Philadelphia—it has been awarded a $4.9 million, three-year Health Care Innovation grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The funds will be used to develop technology-enabled programs to improve health care for high-need populations in the Greater Philadelphia area.
The grant was one of 26—selected from a field of more than 3,000 applicants—announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on May 8. The grant program, funded through the Affordable Care Act, ultimately will support a total of 100 projects and disburse approximately $900 million.
"We can't wait to support innovative projects that will save money and make our health care system stronger," says Sebelius. "It's yet another way we are supporting local communities now in their efforts to provide better care and lower costs." According to HHS, this challenge grant program is designed to support applicants who propose “compelling new models of service delivery/payment improvements that hold the promise of delivering the three-part aim of better health, better health care, and lower costs through improved quality for Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees.”
The grant money awarded to SCIOinspire and its partners will support the use of health information technology and peer mentoring to empower interested Health Partners of Philadelphia plan members to improve their health status. This comprehensive approach to health care is expected to reduce the total cost of care through prevention, maintaining wellness, and management of disease and chronic conditions with estimated savings of approximately $8.7 million.
“This award presents an opportunity for SCIOinspire, Finity and Health Partners to make a measurable difference in the health of a specific population,” notes Siva Namasivayam, Chief Executive Officer for SCIOinspire. “Combining our proven analytics-driven solutions with expert mentoring and outreach will help drive better care and lower costs.”
“This grant speaks directly to our health-data-driven chronic member identification and engagement technology expertise,” adds Bart Bracken, SVP and COO of the Health Analytics division of SCIOinspire. “We look forward to working alongside our partners to deliver a superior level of healthcare service to those most in need in the Philadelphia area.”
About SCIOinspire
Based in Farmington, Connecticut, SCIOinspire is a leading health analytics services company, serving more than 50 health care payers and care organizations including 15 of the top 25 insurers that represent more than 80 million members. Through the use of integrated healthcare data and proprietary algorithms and technologies, SCIOinspire focuses on providing actionable analytics, business services and insights in the areas of payment integrity, value-based benefit design, consumer engagement, economic modeling, and outcomes measurement to improve healthcare services and results. For more information about SCIOinspire, please visit www.scioinspire.com.
About Finity Communications
Finity Communications is a leading provider of systems-based technology and communication solutions for some of the largest health plan providers in the U.S. Finity is the creator of the EveryBODY Get Healthy closed-loop system that is the platform for the Innovation project. Our mission is to empower individuals to make conscious health and wellness decisions. For more information about Finity, please visit www.finity.com.
About Health Partners
Health Partners is a not-for-profit health plan serving nearly 170,000 members in the Greater Philadelphia region. Its HealthChoices Medicaid plan consistently ranks number one in the area for member satisfaction in an annual consumer survey; is rated as "Excellent," the highest level possible, by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA); and was the first plan in the nation to receive NCQA's Multicultural Health Care Distinction. In 2009, the company launched KidzPartners, which provides free or low-cost health insurance to uninsured children and teens through CHIP, Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program. Founded more than 25 years ago, Health Partners is one of the few hospital-owned health plans in the country and has received national recognition for its innovations in managed care. For more information about Health Partners, please visit www.healthpart.com.