Cherokee Health Systems, located in Tennessee, and Lone Star Circle of Care, located in Texas, will each receive a $100,000 grant to address complex community health problems.
UnitedHealthcare (UHC) and Advocates for Community Health (ACH) are granting $100,000 each to two federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) as part of a multi-year, multi-million-dollar collaboration that began in 2023 to address complex issues affecting the overall well-being of underserved communities. In the second round of seed funding of the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge, Cherokee Health Systems and Lone Star Circle of Care were selected as the winners from a pool of applicants who submitted project proposals utilizing emerging technology and data capacity initiatives to improve patient health outcomes, increase efficiencies, and achieve long-term cost savings.
“I am so grateful that, for the second year in a row, we’ve been able to boost community health centers to be the catalyst of change in their communities,” said Amanda Pears Kelly, CEO of Advocates for Community Health. “Health centers are at the center of innovation, providing the gold standard of health care – the applications we received further demonstrated their unique approaches to tackling some of the most significant issues in their communities.”
“We are honored to support health centers like Cherokee Health Systems and Lone Star Circle of Care, as improving access to quality healthcare is crucial to our mission,” said Kate Paris, Vice President, UnitedHealthcare Community & State. “The growing interest from more health centers to be a part of this program is a testament to the value that they can bring to addressing needs in their communities.”
A selection committee of policy and health care thought leaders reviewed over a dozen submissions and identified the two awardees. Awardees represent some of the nation’s largest FQHCs, each serving over 40,000 patients annually and employing over 300 full-time employees. The 2024 awardees are:
Cherokee Health Systems (CHS), located in Tennessee: CHS proposes applying a data-driven and precision medicine approach to reducing disparities in care. CHS has developed the first stage of a Health Equity Dashboard that tracks UDS metrics based on identity markers, and this project will allow them to move to the next level of clinical informatics to create tailored dashboards for each clinic site, with links to reports of patient-level data. These analytics will be used by care coordinators for outreach and engagement, as well as clinical teams to tailor clinical interventions to target gaps in care.
Lone Star Circle of Care (LSCC) located in Texas: LSCC’s Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Process Automation for Financial and Clinical Health program will address a multitude of challenges related to medical coding and billing, exacerbated by the increasing documentation requirements of value-based care, recent technological transitions, and workforce shortages. These challenges collectively contribute to significant operational inefficiencies, provider and staff burnout, and compromised financial performance, necessitating the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted medical coding and billing software.
The Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge was launched in April 2023 as a joint multi-year commitment between ACH and UnitedHealthcare. The Challenge presents a unique opportunity for FQHC leaders to drive significant change in their communities. Since its inception, the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge Fund has awarded $2.5 million to five transformative projects.
Grantees also receive technical support in model/intervention design, evaluation, data analytics, policy analysis, and sustainability planning.
For more information on the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge, please visit https://advocatesforcommunityhealth.org/membership/entrepreneur_challenge_uhc/.