Prime Health Challenge

The Annual Prime Health Challenge began in 2014 to galvanize the burgeoning digital health ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of digital health technologies focused on achieving the “Triple Aim” of improved patient experience, improved population health and lower costs.  The program, powered by The Colorado Health Foundation, validates companies based on impact, business and clinical rubrics in order to identify the most commercial-ready solutions.  Industry experts provide feedback and mentorship to digital health companies seeking to pilot their products with healthcare institutions.  The program concludes with a “shark-tank” style event, where finalists companies pitch their products live to a panel of healthcare executives from healthcare institutions across Colorado, and an audience of hundreds, to win a portion of $150,000 and the opportunity to pilot their product.

This year, the Challenge will focus on funding pilots within Colorado Safety Net Institutions.  We plan to address key needs identified by our Safety Net Advisory Board to support underserved communities and are soliciting judges from these Institutions and community stakeholders in the evaluation process in order to identify relevant health technology solutions.

Apply To Judge: Fill out this quick form at https://airtable.com/shrOEg7kAl4k0fmRy and we’ll send you an invitation to apply.


Judging

As a judge, you will be expected to review health technology company applications for the 2018 Challenge on the Valid Evaluation platform. Each judge will be assigned 4-8 companies to evaluate based on their subject matter expertise.  Judges are expected to complete these evaluations from May 21^st to June 4^th and should allocate 3-6 hours for the process.  We encourage you to attend the June 6^th semi-finalist selection meeting; however, this is not a requirement to participate.

For specific questions, please reach out to Nicole McNew, Executive Director at Prime Health, at Nicole@primehealthco.com.

Latest from (or about) the CO Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)

• ACC Phase II Update - April 11, 2018 - ACC Phase II starts July 1!
• At a Glance - March 30, 2018
• Senior Dental News - April 2018
• CCHAP Practice Managers Newsletter - April 18, 2018 - includes a ton of good info about Medicaid!

Latest from the CO Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)

• Accountable Care Collaborative Phase II Update - March 16, 2018
• CICP Communicates - March 29, 2018
• At a Glance - March 30, 2018

Latest from (or about!) the CO Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)

• ACC Phase II Update - March 2, 2018
• At a Glance - February 2018
• CICP Communicates - March 13, 2018
• CCHAP Practice Manager Newsletter - March 14, 2018
• Accountable Care Collaborative Phase II Update - March 16, 2018

Latest from the CO Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)

• At a Glance - February 2018
• 2018-19 Primary Care Fund Agency Application Review Meeting, Thursday, March 1, 2018, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm,1570 Grant St., Denver, CO 80203 - Palms Conference Room
Stakeholder Conference Call-In Information: 1-877-820-7831 (U.S. Domestic) or 1-720-279-0026 (Local/International) - Dial room number: 155811# - Wait to be added to conference. Click here for PowerPoint presentation.

Congress Passes Funding Agreement for NHSC!

"With the successful passage of the Continuing Resolution (CR), we are very grateful for your work securing a two year extension to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), Community Health Centers, and the Teaching Health Centers programs, and the five year reauthorization of the Maternal, Infant, and Early childhood Home Visiting Program.

This action proves that your work has made a difference, and you can be sure that ACU will continue to work to strengthen the NHSC into the future. While we support and applaud Congress for their bipartisan effort on this spending deal, we recognize that significant disparities continue to exist in healthcare access across the country. For example, even though last year more than 10,000 National Health Service Corps members served 10 million people in every state and territory, it would still take an additional 27,000 providers just to meet the existing shortages. Furthermore, the annual budget for the NHSC as it stands is an amount sufficient to fund less than 40% of the applicants willing to serve in areas of provider shortages.

The NHSC has a 40 year track record of success and we applaud Congress for its action to ensure that this crucial program can continue into the future. ACU will continue to seek out additional opportunities to strengthen the National Health Service Corps even further and to continue to improve the health of millions of Americans nationwide.'

Source: Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU).

Latest from the CO Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)

• SIM Health Elevations - February 2018
• ACC Phase II Update - Feb. 14, 2018

Colorado interChange: Week of February 15, 2018

As the Colorado interChange moves toward normal operations, we'll be broadening the focus of this newsletter to bring you hot topics and useful information on a larger variety of issues related to Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid Program) and other initiatives from the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (the Department). We'll continue to focus on issues we believe your members we be discussing and resources to share.

Provide Buzz on the Colorado interChange: As a reminder, new training materials are available on the Department's website. Updated training materials have been posted to the Provider Training web page, under the Billing Training and Workshops drop-down section. New materials include Beginning Billing Workshop CMS 1500 and Beginning Billing Workshop UB-04. FAQs for multiple service locations are now available on the Department's website. If you have questions about requirements for providers with multiple service locations or how to enroll and bill for service locations separately, check out the FAQs here. Other Topics If you haven't had the chance already, take a moment and meet our new executive director. Kim Bimestefer has an extensive background in health care and has been leading the Department since her appointment by Gov. John Hickenlooper in January. The next iteration of the Accountable Care Collaborative (ACC) is scheduled to begin July 1, 2018. The goals of the next phase are to improve member health and reduce costs. In November 2017, the Department announced the awards for the seven Regional Accountable Entity (RAE) contracts. The Department has made available the proposals from each of the awarded entities on CO.gov/HCPF/ACCPhase2. Recorded Webinars Online Now ACC Phase II Implementation Process Overview Recorded Webinar Webinar Slides  ACC Phase II: Provider Contracting (What Providers Need to Know) Recorded Webinar Webinar Slides

Quick guides and webinars can help with Provider Web Portal questions   Quick guides and webinars developed to support you in using the new Provider Web Portal and in getting questions answered are constantly being updated on the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance website. While these quick guides aren't a substitute for provider-specific questions that should be directed to the Provider Services Call Center (1-844-235-2387), they do provide help on a variety of key topic areas and as well as other areas on which providers have indicated they need addition information.   The Department is always interested in your feedback on other educational resources that could be added. You can provide your Regional Field Representative with ideas for additional educational materials as well as local training support topics.