SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Community Health Plan of Washington (CHPW) along with its parent organization Community Health Network of Washington (CHNW), a network of 20 federally qualified health centers serving patients across the state of Washington, today announced that they will be joining forces with the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) to advance the goals of health equity. Together they will be developing the next generation of Medicaid models to reduce health disparities. The CHPW/CHNW/HCA team is one of seven national teams comprised of competitively selected state Medicaid agencies, Medicaid health plans, and health care delivery systems that will work together to reduce health disparities as part of the Advancing Health Equity Learning Collaborative.
The Learning Collaborative is a component of the Advancing Health Equity: Leading Care, Payment, and Systems Transformation program (AHE) funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AHE is based at the University of Chicago and conducted in partnership with the Institute for Medicaid Innovation and the Center for Health Care Strategies.
“This collaboration is an opportunity to make meaningful progress to the goal of advancing equitable healthcare and reducing health disparities,” said Leanne Berge, CEO of CHPW and CHNW. “At CHPW and CHNW, we are committed to meeting the needs and improving the health of Washington’s communities. We are honored to be the only West Coast team selected and to represent Washington in this important, first of its kind initiative.”
The Collaborative will meet over the next two years to design integrated payment and health care delivery reforms to achieve health equity and then implement these efforts as part of Medicaid payor-provider partnerships in seven states. The teams will also incorporate interventions to address social determinants of health with the aim of producing best practice and policy recommendations.
“The work of the Learning Collaborative teams will help the Advancing Health Equity program understand what works—and what does not work—to improve the health and health care of patients experiencing the brunt of health and healthcare inequities,” says Marshall Chin, Co-Director of AHE. “The more we learn how to advance health equity via integrated payment and health care delivery reforms, the better we can improve health care policies in organizations, states, and the nation.”
CHPW and CHNW believe that the key to providing the best care lies in continuous innovation. CHPW is proud to celebrate 28 years of delivering pioneering, accessible managed care services that improve the health of communities.
For more information on the Advancing Health Equity Learning Collaborative, please visit: https://www.solvingdisparities.org/payment-reform. To learn more about CHPW, visit www.chpw.org.
About CHPW
Founded in 1992 by a network of community and migrant health centers in Washington State, Community Health Plan of Washington is a community-governed, not-for-profit health plan. The mission of CHPW is to deliver accessible managed care services that meet the needs and improve the health of Washington communities and to make managed care participation beneficial for community-responsive providers. CHPW serves approximately 265,000 members through Medicaid and Medicare programs across the State. Its parent, CHNW, serves nearly one million individuals across Washington through 161 sites. To learn more, visit chpw.org or connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
