A Medical Device Daily

APS Healthcare (Silver Spring, Maryland), a specialty healthcare company, reported being selected by the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH; Atlanta) to operate the Georgia Medicaid Management Program (GAMMP).

The program will provide care management and informatics services statewide to about 200,000 Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, HIV, mental illness and sickle cell anemia.

The contract is an expansion of APS’ relationship with Georgia, where APS has been providing care management services to Medicaid beneficiaries through the state’s Georgia Enhanced Care Program since 2005, and other programming since 1999.

To enhance engagement and medical homes for Georgia Medicaid beneficiaries, APS will expand its community-based integration model, placing health coaches, nurse care managers and lay health workers in provider locations throughout the state. Community providers and beneficiaries will be supported with access to a secure, state-of-the-art Internet-based electronic health records system, APS CareConnection.

APS has partnered with the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta) for services and with Emory University (Atlanta) to develop a fall-prevention program for elderly participants that includes community-based assessments to minimize falling risks.

The new program will begin April 1, and will be administered out of APS’ Atlanta service center.

In other contract news: Tenet Healthcare (Dallas) reported that it has reached an agreement with the United Nurses Association of California (UNAC; San Diego/Pomona) on a new labor contract for nurses represented at four Tenet hospitals in California: Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center (Fountain Valley); Irvine Regional Hospital and Medical Center (Irvine); Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center (Garden Grove); Lakewood Regional Medical Center (Lakewood).

Terms of the new contract include Tenet’s benefits package, and sets stable wage increases over the next three years at rates of 5.25% the first year and 5% for the second and third years. In the interest of a continued cooperative working relationship, Tenet and the union have agreed to no-strike provisions in exchange for an interest arbitration process that allows both parties to reach a renewable agreement, and have established an interest arbitration process to resolve any issues between the parties.