A partnership of Akron's three hospital systems, the University of Akron and the region's medical school launched an initiative on Wednesday to improve the health of area residents.
The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron has started what is being called an ''Accountable Care Community,'' a community-wide effort to improve promotion, access and delivery of health care to residents.
The program builds on a concept included in federal health-care reform known as accountable care organizations, or networks of doctors and hospitals that share responsibility for providing care to their patients.
ACOs are ''shared savings programs'' that allow health-care providers to share a portion of the money they save in health-care costs as long as they meet quality benchmarks for patient care and results.
Hospitals, doctors, public health agencies and social-services organizations in Akron are getting involved ''to improve population health,'' said Janine Janosky, vice president of the institute's Center for Clinical and Community Health Improvements.
The Accountable Care Community program was unveiled during a health-care conference hosted by the institute at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron.
The initiative is starting with an outreach effort to provide better care for at-risk diabetic patients from clinics at Akron General Medical Center, Summa Akron City Hospital and the University of Akron's nursing program.
The program initially is enrolling 30 patients, who are receiving social support, nutrition education, community exercise programs and other services to help them improve their health, Janosky said.
The project is being funded with a $150,000 grant from the GAR Foundation. The partners also are seeking federal money to expand the program and develop initiatives to help patients manage other chronic illnesses.
By improving residents' health, the accountable care community program also should lower health-care costs and increase productivity for employers in the region, according to supporters.
The event on Wednesday featured local and national experts, who spoke about ways to improve health care.
Susan R. Mende, senior program officer for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shared examples of initiatives launched in Cleveland and 15 other communities nationwide through the nonprofit's Aligning Focus on Quality project.
The programs include measuring doctor and hospital performance; implementing strategies to improve the quality of care; engaging consumers; developing payment strategies that reward better care, not just more care, and reducing health-care disparities.
Partners in Memphis and Kansas City, for example, have started diabetes management programs that are run through churches in those communities, Mende said.
''Let's not forget about the patient as the expert in his or her own care,'' Mende said.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
