As we enter a new year with a new administration, there are many uncertainties about the future direction of health care delivery and payment. But the demographic imperative continues as unprecedented numbers of Americans turn 65 each day, putting more pressure on the Medicare and Medicaid programs to better plan for, coordinate and deliver appropriate, high-quality care to vulnerable and aging populations across care settings and payment models. Public budget pressures will intensify this focus on effectiveness and efficiency. Aging and disability community-based organizations (CBOs)—such as Area Agencies on Aging and Centers for Independent Living—are on the front lines in bridging the gap between acute care, behavioral health and long-term services and supports systems to improve quality of care and reduce health care costs.
In addition to well-established community partnerships and provider networks, CBOs have a proven track record of providing quality home and community-based services such as meals on wheels and transportation as well as care coordination and evidence-based programs that offer value to hospitals, health systems and managed care organizations. But sometimes making the case to the health care entities can be difficult as CBOs don’t always speak their language or understand what motivates them. What package of services should I offer? How do I price so those services effectively? How can I use my provider network to secure a contract for services? What data is convincing to new partners? What IT systems do I need to collect it? What other opportunities exist to expand my business lines?
Through a unique public-private partnership, The U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) has teamed up with The John A. Hartford Foundation, The SCAN Foundation and other local foundations to fund the Aging and Disability Business Institute (the “Business Institute”) to enhance the business acumen of CBOs. Building upon years of successful learning collaboratives and targeted technical assistance, we’ve developed this new website to bring a host of resources together in one place to help CBOs build successful partnerships with the health care community. These tools and resources are intended to help CBOs successfully adapt to a changing health care environment, enhance organizational capacity and capitalize on emerging opportunities to diversify funding.
As the lead grantee, The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) is partnering with the most experienced and respected organizations in the Aging and Disability Networks to make real and lasting impact on the new health care landscape.
The Business Institute website will provide training, resources, expert advice and tools to help CBOs learn how to deliver measurable value to, and contract with, health systems in a new, integrated care model. We’ve developed a range of basic, intermediate and advanced tools, such as webinars and publications, to enhance CBO business capacity and position them to successfully negotiate with health care entities. We have sample MOUs, sample state license business agreements, tip sheets and more!
We hope you find the website useful to you today and we hope you will come back often, ask questions of our team of experts, read the success stories, make suggestions to us to improve the site and watch the project grow.
We have some great plans, including a robust CBO readiness assessment tool that will launch in 2017.
Meanwhile, we encourage you to check out the Get Started section, review the upcoming events and sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter. And if you’d like to talk to us about a specific question or idea, please let us know—we’re eager to work with you to help make your vision a reality. And, remember, as you navigate these choppy waters of systems, you’re not alone.
We hope you enjoy the new site!
–Nora Super is the Chief of Programs and Services at the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a)