Here are details on three other top health projects that won Prudential-Davis innovation awards for state employees this year:
---The Sarasota County Health Department’s Clinical Enterprise Team, a $1,750 award -- the largest to any health agency -- for bringing private-sector physician practice management to the public sector.
The team cut paperwork and automated data input, and increased revenues by getting more patients qualified for Medicaid and Medicare, submitting cleaner claims to payors, and improving up-front collections.
It added up to about $2 million a year in savings and added revenues, said Melanie Michael, division director for clinical health services.
---The Foster Care Redesign team, a partnership between the Department of Children and Families and Family Support Services of North Florida, $1,500.
The redesign team won for a research-driven change in how it handles cases of abuse and neglect. Whenever possible, instead of removing children from their homes, they instead provide families with an array of services, such as classes in parenting, anger management and budgeting, while sending caseworkers for frequent visits.
They cut the number of children in foster care by 44 percent over two years and saved about $7 million, DCF spokesman John Harrell said.
---The General Counsel’s Office of the Department of Children and Families, $1,500 for the office’s work with the Division of Risk Management to reduce the number of lawsuits and amount of judgments.
The program identifies potential lawsuits against DCF and immediately provides services to anyone with a claim against the department. In one case, the program trimmed $8 million from a $26.5-million judgment, Assistant General Counsel Juan Collins said. In all, the program saved the state $41 million in litigation and case management costs.
