BMO Harris Bank donates $5million to Chicago health care coalition

  • Published On  Oct 26, 2013
  • Publication  Chicago Tribune
  • Author  Peter Frost

Excerpt

"In order to truly coordinate care and improve access to care for the underserved, you really need to think about your (care) model, and it's not like somebody has written that blueprint," said Dr. Larry Goodman, Rush's CEO. "What this grant does is it ties all of these pieces together. Now that we have a number of organizations here (participating), we're thrilled that BMO stepped in to help accelerate our activities."

Cheryl Lulias, who leads the Medical Home Network, said preliminary results over the first year and a half of operations were encouraging.

When the partnership began, 19 percent of patients received care in their designated medical home seven days after an emergency room visit or a hospital discharge. Today, she said, close to 24 percent reported receiving follow-up care within one week.

"That's remarkable progress," Lulias said. "We're looking to further reduce inappropriate readmissions, help people manage their chronic conditions and drive the right care in the right place."

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