Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM)
Monthly Newsletter
October, 2015
In This Issue
SIM Video
Outreach Tour
SIM Practice RFA
A Look Ahead: Local Public Health Funding
Colorado Awarded $11 Million
Population Health RFP Remains Open
TCHF and SIM Office are in Conversations
In the News

Watch SIM Video

The SIM Office is excited to announce the release of a new video which can be viewed by clicking the image below.
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SIM Outreach Tour in November

The SIM Office will be hitting the road during the second week in November to visit a number of communities outside the Denver Metro Area including:
  • Alamosa
  • Colorado Springs
  • Grand Junction
  • Lamar
  • Montrose
  • Pueblo
  • Steamboat Springs
Stay tuned for more information on the SIM Roadshow. More information will be sent in the coming weeks as the details are finalized.
Request for Applications for Practices to Participate in SIM

The SIM Office in conjunction with the University of Colorado has issued a Request for Application (RFA) for primary care practices to participate in the first cohort of SIM. The practices that are selected to participate will receive technical assistance and financial support to integrate physical and behavioral health and test value-based payment models.  There will be a webinar-style forum held on Thursday, October 22, from 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM to discuss the RFA, and will provide interested parties an opportunity to ask questions. Please click here to sign-up for the open forum.
 
Please refer to the links below for additional information:
To view the RFA and submit an application please visit:

Important dates:
  • September 15, 2015 - Practice RFA opens 
  • October 26, 2015 - Practice RFA closes
  • December 25, 2015 - Selected practices notified
  • February 1, 2016 - Cohort 1 practices kick-off
A Look Ahead: Local Public Health Funding for Behavioral Health Promotion and Prevention of Behavioral Health Disorders

CDPHE and SIM are planning to release a funding opportunity, available to Local Public Health Agencies.
The opportunity will have two areas of focus that aim to improve community based awareness, prevention and screening of behavioral health disorders and increase access to integrated physical and behavioral health care services in coordinated systems of care.
The two focus areas that SIM LPHA applicants must address are:
  1. Behavioral health promotion, outreach and education, and/or stigma reduction focused on evidence-based or research informed behavioral health, wellness and prevention strategies.
  2. Coordination of systems that improve integration of behavioral health services and primary care, including an assessment of community-based resources and gaps in year one of the grant, accompanied by targeted and sustainable health systems interventions that improve screening, referral and follow up rates of US Preventive Services Task Force A and B Recommendations in years two and three of the grant.
Anticipated funding amounts: $50,000-$150,000 per year for three years

Anticipated Release: Late October/Early November
Colorado Receives $11 Million Federal Grant for Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative (TCPI)


The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that Colorado's Collaborative for Practice Transformation is one of 39 health care collaborative networks selected to participate in the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative. Colorado will receive up to $11 million over the next four years to provide technical assistance to help equip clinicians throughout Colorado with tools, information, and network support needed to improve quality of care, increase patients' access to information, and spend health care dollars more wisely. Read the full press release here
Funding Partnership Supports Collaboration, Integration Across Behavioral Health Spectrum

The Denver Foundation and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), with funding from SIM, are pleased to announce a strategic partnership designed to improve the accessibility and impact of behavioral health services across Colorado. Last month, the organizations opened a three-year cycle of funding for collaborative programs that address the spectrum of behavioral health issues statewide. Funds will support existing collaborations between three or more organizations that work together to address behavioral health issues at the local level. In particular, CDPHE will leverage SIM funds to support behavioral health prevention and screening while the Denver Foundation will fund projects related to increasing access to behavioral health treatment.Applicants may apply to either funding source or both.
 
The Request for Applications and additional information is available online at:

 
The application deadline is 5:00 PM (MT) on Friday, October 16, 2015.
 
Potential for Additional Grant Funding to Support Practices
 
The SIM team has been in conversations with the Colorado Health Foundation regarding the possibility of additional grant funding to support practices. The Foundation has agreed to consider a request for funding; a decision regarding a grant request would be expected in December.
In the News

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 
 
Phillip Hickey, PhD

The Colorado Health Foundation
SIM is on Twitter
 
The SIM Office is now on Twitter! Follow us @SIM_Colorado to read about how Colorado is transforming the way health care is delivered, and stay up to date with the latest SIM news.