Linn County gets federal funding to develop health care payment reforms

Six Iowa health care organizations, including Linn County Public Health, received federal funding this week to aid them in the development of broad-based health care system and payment reforms over the next three years.

Gov. Terry Branstad announced on Monday that the organizations will receive a portion of $1.3 million from a $43 million, four-year federal grant awarded to Iowa in 2015.

Using the State Innovation Model (SIM) Initiative grant money, the organizations will partner with health care providers and other community stakeholders to develop programs that focus on the prevention of diabetes, obesity and tobacco use.

Branstad said the grant program's goals are to improve Iowans' health, change how health care is delivered in Iowa and make adjustments that are financially sustainable.

Iowa Department of Public Health Director Gerd Clabaugh said health care organizations, for example, may work with local communities to encourage the creation of more walking and biking paths to aid better fitness and help reduce the incidence of diabetes. He said the initial funding was the product of a request-for-proposal process among communities that demonstrated the capabilities and readiness to engage in transformational change.

Branstad said the approach is geared toward moving away from the old fee-for-service approach to one focused on prevention and improving health by way of reimbursement based on outcomes or results.

'Local communities will be equipped for success as they implement population-based, community-applied approaches that address diabetes, obesity and tobacco use,” the governor said in his weekly news conference.

Cindy Fiester, chronic disease services program coordinator at Linn County Public Health, said the public health department does not yet have exact details as to how much money the county will receive. But she added the county already is working toward assessing the population's needs through its community health improvement plan, a countywide health assessment done every three years.

The county will work to address needs with other community stakeholders, including area hospitals, mental health agencies, social service groups, pharmacies, long-term services and supports agencies and federally qualified health clinics.

'We want to take the community's temperature and figure out a way to get care coordination in a place where we can connect a lot of needs,” she said.

SIM is led by the Iowa Department of Human Services, Iowa Department of Public Health and Iowa Healthcare Collaborative.