Illinois is one of a few states penalizing hospitals for high 30-day readmission rates among its Medicaid beneficiaries. To support Illinois hospitals in reducing readmissions among the Medicaid population, the Illinois Hospital Association, Telligen (the QIO), Collaborative Healthcare Strategies, and John Snow, Inc. have partnered together to offer an educational learning collaborative “Reducing Medicaid Readmissions in Illinois: Moving Forward Together”.

Our Bridge Program Management Team was pleased to have the opportunity to present about social work and the Bridge Model at collaborative’s two-day long sessions in Naperville and in Springfield, IL. Amanda Groaning-Marks, long time Bridge Care Coordinator at Shawnee Alliance (aging network CBO in Carterville, IL) also joined us to share an overview of Shawnee’s Bridge program, which is implemented in partnership with Southern Illinois Healthcare. The person-centered, community-based, social work approach of Bridge is a good approach to take for improving transitions for those that might have not been engaged with the healthcare system in the past, might have mental or behavioral health needs, or might benefit from community-based resources —  which makes Bridge a particularly good fit for working with Medicaid beneficiaries.

We are grateful to the organizers for engaging us! Resources from the learning collaborative can be found here on IHA’s website (including previous webinar slides about Medicaid readmissions), and slides from the day-long meeting (including the Bridge slides) can be found here.