Where We Started

The CHECK program began in 2014 as a $19.8M demonstration project funded by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).   

 

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 established the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to test promising innovative payment and delivery system models to reduce program spending and improve the quality of care for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program beneficiaries. The CMMI awarded Health Care Innovation Awards Round One in 2012 to 139 organizations and Round Two in 2014 to 39 organizations. The patient populations include a range of ages from children to the elderly and span the continuum of health care.

 

The CMMI awarded three-year cooperative funding agreements to organizations to implement their proposed model of care in 52 states and the District of Columbia. The CMMI awarded the UIC Department of Pediatrics a Round Two Health Care Innovation Award. The UIC entered into a $19.8 million cooperative agreement with CMS from 09/01/2014 through 08/31/2018 (three years, plus one 12 month no-cost extension). CHECK was the largest pediatric project funded nationwide.

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What We Did

CHECK served as a demonstration project with the goal to develop, implement and evaluate a sustainable model of comprehensive, quality health and behavioral health care coordination for low-income children with chronic medical conditions and their families. The model is built on the understanding that there are social factors that affect a child’s health outcomes; looking at ways to identify and mitigate these social determinants of health are the bedrock of the CHECK program. The aims of the CHECK program were to increase access and engagement with the health system, reduce patients’ total healthcare costs, and decrease patients’ school absenteeism.

 

The CHECK services target health disparities through a multi-level population health approach that incorporates individual, family, and community determinants. By providing supportive, integrated care coordination services from community health workers (CHWs) and behavioral health specialists, the CHECK team is able to develop individualized plans of care to assure families’ needs are identified and addressed. 

 

Where We're Headed

In 2018, CHECK transitioned from a demonstration project to a self sustaining care delivery model.  Under this model CHECK services are available to patients through contractual agreements with various entities and departments focusing around patient engagement, health equities, and behavioral health.  CHECK continues to expand its services and is always looking for new opportunities to help patients recieve the care they deserve!