The Colorado Children's Healthcare Access Program is a nonprofit organization created to address barriers that have prevented private pediatric and family practices from accepting children enrolled in Medicaid and providing them with a medical home. CCHAP helps pediatric practices to meet the state's medical-home certification and receive enhanced reimbursement from Medicaid, while providing them with an array of support services, including care coordination, a resource hotline, and billing assistance. CCHAP also connects practices and families to community organizations and state and county agencies, and trains practice staff on how to identify children's needs and refer families to appropriate resources. A recent evaluation shows children covered by Medicaid and with a medical home in a private pediatric practice supported by CCHAP visit the emergency department less often, have more preventive care visits, and are less expensive for the state Medicaid program than children in non-CCHAP-affiliated practices.
This study was based on publicly available information and self-reported data provided by the case study institution(s). The aim of Commonwealth Fund–sponsored case studies of this type is to identify institutions that have achieved results indicating high performance in a particular area of interest, have undertaken innovations designed to reach higher performance, or exemplify attributes that can foster high performance. The studies are intended to enable other institutions to draw lessons from the studied institutions' experience that will be helpful in their own efforts to become high performers. Even the best-performing organizations may fall short in some areas or make mistakes—emphasizing the need for systematic approaches to improve quality and prevent harm to patients and staff. The Commonwealth Fund is not an accreditor of health care organizations or systems, and the inclusion of an institution in the Fund's case study series is not an endorsement by the Fund for receipt of health care from the institution.