The National Care Coordination Academy
The National Care Coordination Academy (NCCA) is a partnership among the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network for Children with Medical Complexity at the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health, Boston University School of Social Work, and the Division of General Pediatrics and the Department of Accountable Care and Clinical Integration, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
The Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau supported the NCCA.
When the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Advance Care for Children with Medical Complexity’s (CMC CoIIN) recognized that programs needed implementation support when starting care coordination initiatives, the NCAA came into being. The initiative aims to provide the necessary skills, tools, and ongoing mentoring support to guide implementation of coordinated care tools and performance measures.
Beginning in September 2020, 10 interdisciplinary teams, each including healthcare providers, family partners, and Title V and Medicaid representatives, have engaged in ongoing virtual meetings discussing various topics related to coordinated care implementation, measurement of effectiveness, and the sustainability of the coordinated care model. The NCCA also provides ongoing technical assistance to member teams on implementing care coordination and care integration tools, processes, and performance measures as a means to sustain care delivery innovation for children and youth with special healthcare needs (CYSHCN) and children with medical complexity (CMC).
Why Care Coordination?
In recent years, coordinated care has received national attention, as it has been shown to reduce low-value, fragmented care, and to improve family-reported experience of care. Public and commercial payers, in addition to health care quality policymakers, are seeking processes and tools whose implementation can be incentivized to deliver high-value outcomes and meaningful outcome measures for families and CYSHCN, especially in Medicaid.
Since the launch of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau-funded, “Pediatric Care Coordination Curriculum (2nd Edition): An Interprofessional Resource to Effectively Engage Patients and Families in Achieving Optimal Health Outcomes”, a large and diverse number of stakeholders across the United States have shown interest in coordinated care. This excitement, as well as the foundational work of the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau in promoting systems of care for CYSHCN, created an ideal opportunity for this new program to advance coordinated care efforts.
State Team Successes: NCCA Blog
Interview with Richard Antonelli, MD, and Heather Pomella, NP
“We Try to Do the Right Thing, at the Right Time, for the Right Person:” Team Indiana’s Approach to Care Coordination