The Hennepin County Government Center,  in Minneapolis. Its stylized letter “H” shape serves as the logo for Hennepin County.

This Commonwealth Fund report looks at the successes of Minnesota’s Hennepin Health, a safety-net Accountable Care Organization (ACO) launched in 2012 as a Medicaid demonstration project meant to be a new model of care for Medicaid beneficiaries, many of whom suffer from serious behavioral-and-mental health issues as well as poverty, trauma and social isolation. The ACO’s territory includes Minneapolis and environs.

The Commonwealth Fund reported these results:

“Hennepin Health’s efforts have improved access to primary care for its members and reduced use of acute care. Emergency department visits decreased by 9.1 percent between 2012 and 2013, while hospital admissions remained stable. Over the same period, outpatient visits increased by 3.3 percent….”

“Hennepin Health also has provided better care for members with chronic conditions. Growing percentages of its members receive recommended diabetes, vascular, and asthma care—though the numbers are still low. Hennepin Health’s leaders are encouraged by members’ increasing use of primary care, but say it will likely take longer before this yields appreciable improvements in health.”

To read the entire Commonwealth Fund report, please hit this link.