The New York State Department of Health has awarded a $450,000 grant to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center to support the continuation of a program that ensures better post-hospital care while reducing hospital readmissions and nursing home stays.

Called Bridging the Inpatient Process (BIP): Building Bridges to Home and Community Care, the program has restructured the hospitalas discharge process to provide needed support to caregivers who will care for Medicaid beneficiaries at home and in the community and to ensure better transitions to outpatient care and services.A

Those changes have generated more than $2.39 million in Medicaid savings during the past year. aProviding patient care at home with the aid of caregivers who have received training, education and support on helping their loved ones recover from an illness is a proven strategy for improving outcomes and saving healthcare dollars.a

The abridgesa to home and community care are built by specially trained professionals a including discharge planners, social workers and resource coordinators from Niagara Falls Memorial and several community-based organizations.

aThis team of specialists has broken down the barriers between hospital and home by providing the education and support needed to effectively connect patients to medical, mental health and medication management assistance in the community,a said Kee. aNow theyare being supported in some very meaningful ways.a

Ruffolo noted the documented results of innovative Memorial Medical Center efforts such as Bridging the Inpatient Process: Building Bridges to Home and Community Care, Emergency Department Care Coordination and Short Stay Intensive Case Management have paved the way for some $6 million in government and private foundation grants thus far this year.

Included in that total is a three-year, $339,154 grant from The Peter and Elizabeth C.