For the second year in a row, a trio of projects from Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Care Innovation were chosen to receive Clinical Care Innovation Grants from Independence Blue Cross. Each project will receive up to $200,000 toward expanding its work.
“Independence Blue Cross looks for novel interventions with strong early evidence and high potential to improve value-based care, so winning three awards is meaningful validation of Penn innovation programs,” said Roy Rosin, chief innovation officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and interim executive director of the Center for Health Care Innovation. “Our teams have shown they can make a difference in areas of care and patient populations that could benefit most from change, and with Independence’s partnership, we can advance and scale this work.”
This year, the three Penn Medicine projects receiving grants are:
- Healing at Home – A system that uses an artificial intelligence-guided chatbot to provide 24/7 assistance to new mothers with questions about infant care or their own needs during the “fourth trimester” after delivery. The project seeks to expand access to evidence-based guidance, including for mental health support, and evaluate measurable benefits. It’s led by Kirstin Leitner, MD, an assistant professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology; Lori Christ, MD, an assistant professor of Pediatrics; Laura Scalise, MSN, RN, a nurse manager; and Emily Seltzer, a senior innovation manager at the Center for Digital Health.
- Pregnancy Early Access Center (PEACE) – A model for providing care for early pregnancy, including for miscarriages, which take place in one in every five pregnancies. A special focus is placed on equitable follow-up care for those who experience miscarriage, especially to offer an alternative for those who seek care at emergency departments, which many patients do. Currently, 95 percent of these patients do not receive any continuing care following their initial urgent miscarriage visit. This project is led by Courtney Schreiber, MD, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and chief of Family Planning.
- Increasing access to buprenorphine and other substance use treatment services for people of color – A team formed to decrease barriers to rapid access to buprenorphine (a medication that soothes cravings for opioids in the brain) forcommunities in Philadelphia made up of a majority of people of color, building on earlier pilots that successfully connected more people to appropriate care. This includes a telemedicine-based outreach and navigation service that guides people through various aspects of substance use treatment. This effort is led by Jeanmarie Perrone, MD, a professor of Emergency Medicine and director of the Penn Medicine Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy. Read more.
