Chronic Care Initiatives in HMOs is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) charged with identifying, demonstrating, evaluating, and disseminating innovations in the health care of chronically ill people enrolled in prepaid managed care organizations.

Operating under the leadership of a national program office at the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) Foundation in Washington the program encompassed 18 projects — 17 operated by grantee institutions and one by the national program office.

The projects funded include assessment and research on interventions for at-risk seniors, for mothers and children, and for working-age adults.

Key Results
Staff at the national program office cited the following projects as having the most significance for the future management of chronic illness in managed care settings.

• Performance measures developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance that assess how well a managed care organization is caring for chronically ill enrollees.
• A screening tool that reliably identifies senior enrollees at high risk of frequent hospitalization.
• Provision of primary managed care within specialized chronic care clinics.
• Regional expansion of a cooperative health care clinic that has improved both patient and physician satisfaction.
• Recommendations, opportunities and challenges in care management practices for chronically ill older patients.

Funding
The RWJF Board of Trustees authorized the program in January 1993 for $5.6 million. The program took place between 1993 and 1997.