Does your hospital or healthcare system have an idea for an innovative payment or service delivery model that you want to test? If so, you may be eligible to claim a piece of the $1 billion CMS has set aside for round two of the Health Care Innovation Awards. 
The Health Care Innovation Awards were established under the Affordable Care Act and provide opportunity to improve the quality of health care and bring down costs for taxpayers and patients. Last year, CMS received 3,000 round one applications and awarded funds to 107 organizations located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. According to the CMS website, this round of the Health Care Innovation Awards will support public and private organizations in four defined areas that have a high likelihood of driving health care system transformation and delivering better outcomes. Specifically, in this second round, CMS is seeking proposals in the following categories:
The Health Care Innovation Awards were established under the Affordable Care Act and provide opportunity to improve the quality of health care and bring down costs for taxpayers and patients. Last year, CMS received 3,000 round one applications and awarded funds to 107 organizations located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. According to the CMS website, this round of the Health Care Innovation Awards will support public and private organizations in four defined areas that have a high likelihood of driving health care system transformation and delivering better outcomes. Specifically, in this second round, CMS is seeking proposals in the following categories:
- Models that are designed to rapidly reduce Medicare, Medicaid, and/or CHIP costs in outpatient and/or post-acute settings.
- Models that improve care for populations with specialized needs.
- Models that test approaches for specific types of providers to transform their financial and clinical models.
- Models that improve the health of populations – defined geographically (health of a community), clinically (health of those with specific diseases), or by socioeconomic class – through activities focused on engaging beneficiaries, prevention (e.g., a diabetes prevention program or a hypertension prevention program), wellness, and comprehensive care that extend beyond the clinical service delivery setting.
For more information on the eligibility requirements and application deadlines visit the CMS website.
