THE PILOT PROJECT

The vision of First Steps is that every child will be ready to succeed in school and in life.  To make that vision a reality, our children need to be healthy.

The Children’s Healthcare Access Program is based on the premise that all children deserve to have access to quality care.  Between 14,000 and 15,000 Kent County children are participating in a one-year pilot project that started August 1, 2008.  The Children’s Healthcare Access Program is taking a comprehensive approach to improving their access to care:

• Create more openings in private practices for children with Medicaid
• Work with partners to offer more evening hours and same-day appointments
• Provide home-based support services for families

All 14,000-15,000 children in the pilot project are enrolled in Priority Health Medicaid.  Priority Health is increasing the Medicaid reimbursement for sick child office visits at private practices.  In exchange, the practices are accepting additional Medicaid patients.  In addition, more patients have access to expanded evening and weekend hours and same-day open appointments at community clinics.  Children and their families are receiving home-based support services, including linkage with community resources, nurse case management, free transportation and intensive asthma case management.

Eight healthcare providers in Kent County are participating in the pilot project:

• ABC Pediatrics
• Alger Pediatrics
• Cherry Street Health Center
• Forest Hills Pediatrics
• Grand Rapids Pediatrics
• Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital General Pediatrics Clinic
• Kent Pediatrics
• Westside Health Center

The Children’s Healthcare Access Program is modeled after similar initiatives in other states that have led to both healthier children and cost savings in the delivery of healthcare.  The Children’s Healthcare Access Program hopes to demonstrate that by providing publicly insured children in Kent County with a high-quality, consistent medical home we can have healthier kids while reducing costs to the community.

Beyond the one-year pilot project, it is our hope that the Children’s Healthcare Access Program can be expanded to include more healthcare providers and more managed care providers, so that every child in Kent County has access to a high-quality medical home.