This month AHCCCS told us that they’ve picked our Bureau of Tobacco & Chronic Disease as the state applicant for HHS’ Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases Grant.  The grant proposal (which will be developed with AHCCCS) must be turned in to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services early next month.  The grant is competitive, so we’re not certain whether we’ll be successful, but we like our chances.

The idea is to incentivize AHCCCS members to participate in the evidence-based Stanford Chronic Disease Self Management Program, which provides opportunities for members to build skills and gain the confidence to actively participate in their health management.  Our team would build on the current infrastructure and capacity to deliver workshops to include AHCCCS members through expansion of partnerships offering workshops in local communities across Arizona.

The program that we’ll be proposing will create rewards for incremental successes in the disease self-management process, including enrollment in program “adherence” and demonstrated reduction in risk factors (e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, weight, and tobacco use).  The program would conduct assessments at client progress at 30, 60, and 90 days, and will conduct an analysis of continued reductions and/or maintenance after 12 months.  The specific rewards will be determined on the basis of focus groups findings conducted with adults with chronic disease.  There’s strong evidence that this program design is critical to promoting and enhancing disease self-management efforts, and improving the overall health and cost burdens of this population.