Duke Endowment and NC Healthcare Foundation launch new program to improve community health
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WWAY) — The Duke Endowment and the North Carolina Healthcare Foundation (NCHF) are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative, Bridge to Health, which is aimed at improving health for patients with complex care needs.
These highest-risk patients often have multiple chronic medical conditions, suffer from substance abuse or mental health conditions rooted in trauma, and have unmet social needs related to homelessness and poverty.
Bridge to Health uses a proactive approach designed to engage patients with complex care needs that often cannot be met in traditional outpatient settings. The model provides people with comprehensive, individualized care to improve patient outcomes and decrease the total cost of care by reducing hospital utilization for avoidable health conditions.
“We are thrilled to launch the Bridge to Health initiative and partner with NCHF, WakeMed, the participating health systems and Duke-Margolis to learn together, collaborate and refine a care model for patients with acute health and social needs,” said Jay Kennedy, senior program officer with The Duke Endowment’s Health Care program area. “Our goal is to provide a coordinated approach to individualized care for this patient population to help them meet their unique circumstances and support them in achieving long-term stability.”
“We are proud to partner with The Duke Endowment on the Bridge to Health pilot program. This is an exciting opportunity to ensure high-quality health care is accessible to patients across our state who need it most. We are looking forward to the success of this pilot and the participation of six North Carolina health systems,” said Emily Roland, executive director of Program Implementation for NCHF.
The initiative seeks to build a deeper understanding and stronger evidence base regarding the model’s ability to stabilize patients, address unmet social needs, and demonstrate improved health outcomes such as reduced anxiety and depression symptoms, improved blood glucose levels, and decreased unnecessary hospital utilization. This evidence will help advance supplemental payment reform needed to support long-term scale and sustainability. The four-year pilot will include a two-phased approach, with the first year focused on planning and building capacity followed by three years of implementation.
