DHH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein Announces Appointments to CommunityCARE 2.0 Quality Committee

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011  |  Contact: Lisa R. Faust; (225) 342-7913 or (225) 252-3579 (cell)

BATON ROUGE -Today, the Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein announced appointments to the recently created CommunityCARE 2.0 Quality Committee.

The Quality Committee was established after DHH worked with a group of providers and stakeholders to revamp CommunityCARE, DHH's program linking Medicaid recipients to a primary care physician who acts as their medical home. The revised program, called "CommunityCARE 2.0," includes mechanisms for physicians to earn bonus payments if they meet certain performance measures, which will be established and have metrics reviewed by the CommunityCARE Quality Committee.

In CommunityCARE 2.0, which took effect in January 2011, providers can earn incentive payments for meeting certain health indicators such as participating in the LINKS electronic immunization database program, having low rates of non-urgent emergency room visits among their patients, and offering extended hours to treat patients beyond 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

"CommunityCARE 2.0 is our bridge for transitioning Medicaid to Coordinated Care Networks, and serves as a starting point to implement pay-for-performance measures and more effectively coordinate care for our most vulnerable patients, who are mostly children under age 21," Greenstein said. "Because this program is the first step in our historic transformation of Medicaid, we want to receive input from stakeholders representing different groups who can advise us on appropriate and realistic standards for offering a higher quality of care to those who depend on us for treatment."

This 15-member committee is appointed by the Secretary of the Department, and membership includes representatives of providers, stakeholders and departmental staff to advise the Secretary concerning health care quality, ongoing quality improvement opportunities and recommendations for changes in the distribution of the pay-for-performance pool as appropriate. The committee also includes the chairs of both the Senate and House Health & Welfare committees, or their designees.

The Committee will be chaired by the Medicaid Medical Director, Dr. Rodney Wise, and staffed by the Department.  The Committee will meet at a minimum the first month of each quarter, and will meet more often as deemed necessary by the Secretary.

Committee members appointed include:

1. Stewart Gordon, M.D., Baton Rouge, President, American Academy of Pediatrics - Louisiana Chapter
2. Steven Bienvenu, M.D., Shreveport, Associate Professor & Section Chief, Department of Pediatrics,  LSU Health Sciences Center - Shreveport
3. Alfred Hathorn Jr., M.D., Shreveport, member, Louisiana State Medical Society
4. David Thomas, M.D., Baton Rouge, Pediatric Pulmonologist, Children's Respiratory and Sleep Center, Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital
5. Brenda Ikerd, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum
6. Donnie Batie, M.D., Baton Rouge, President, Louisiana Independent Physicians Association
7. Bryan Sibley, M.D., Lafayette, General Pediatrician
8. Stephanie Kelleher, M.D., Baton Rouge, General Pediatrician
9. Ginger Hunt, Clinton, CEO, Primary Care Providers for a Healthy Feliciana
10. Ragan LeBlanc, Baton Rouge, Executive Director, Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians
11. Joia Crear, M.D., New Orleans, President, Louisiana Consumer Healthcare Coalition
12. Pam Monroe, Ph.D., Baton Rouge, Professor, Louisiana State University School of Social Work
13. Rodney Wise, M.D., Baton Rouge, Medical Director, Louisiana Medicaid 
14. Rep. Kay Katz, Monroe, Chairwoman, House Health and Welfare Committee 
15. Sen. Willie Mount, Lake Charles, Chairwoman, Senate Health and Welfare Committee

Details of the CommunityCARE 2.0 program, including additional information on pay-for-performance measures and rates, can be found at www.la-communitycare.com. In addition, DHH has posted CommunityCARE 2.0 Utilization Reports, a Web-based application that shares detailed information on the services CommunityCARE enrollees are using. CommunityCARE 2.0 providers may access their utilization reports at www.laMedicaid.com.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals strives to protect and promote health statewide and to ensure access to medical, preventive and rehabilitative services for all state citizens. To learn more about DHH, visit http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov. For up-to-date health information, news and emergency updates, follow DHH's blog at www.myhealthla.org, Twitter at http://twitter.com/La_Health_Dept and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/LaHealthDept.