Medical Home Network’s (MHN) innovative model for coordinating care and utilization of web-based technology to improve health care delivery was expanded to the entire Cook County Health and Hospitals System’s (CCHHS) Medicaid managed care population thanks to a vote by the CCHHS Board of Directors, MHN announced on Tuesday. “Cook County is at a time in our history when we must find new and innovative ways to address the health care needs and challenges of our patient population, while continuing to reduce the cost of care,” said Dr. Jay Shannon, chief executive officer of CCHHS. “Our board’s decision to continue our partnership with MHN is one of the ways we will be working to achieve that objective. I look forward to the results we will achieve together through growing the role of MHN.”

MHN and CCCHS have successfully partnered to deliver better, more efficient health care to approximately 150,000patients enrolled in CCHHS’s managed care plan, CountyCare. Today, CCHHS expands MHN’s connectivity to include all of the CountyCare population and services provided by, as allowed by law, mental health providers, substance abuse providers, immediate and urgent care centers, and Cermak Health Services, which provides health care to the 9,000 detainees at the Cook County Department of Corrections. MHNConnect is a secure, web-based portal that shares real-time patient information between doctors, hospitals, and clinics and integrates historical health records into one platform to allow for coordination of patient care. By enhancing collaboration, communication and integration across this network, MHN significantly reduces the number of hospital admissions and improves overall health outcomes for patients at safety net health centers like Esperanza Health Centers on Chicago’s Southwest Side. “More than half the residents in our service area experience significant economic, educational, and health disparities,” said Chief Executive Officer Dan Fulwiler of Esperanza Health Centers, a founding partner of MHN.