Blue Shield of California Foundation Awards $3.1 Million to Healthcare Nonprofits
Blue Shield of California Foundation Awards $3.1 Million to Healthcare Nonprofits
The Blue Shield of California Foundation has announced grants totaling $3.1 million to fourteen nonprofits working in California to increase access to health care, promote evidence-based clinical best practices, advance the use of medical and information technology, and combat domestic violence.
Of the total announced, $1.7 million will be awarded to nonprofits that develop and share information on the comparative effectiveness of new medical technologies, devices, and procedures, as well as prescription drugs. Specific grants include $675,000 to the Oakland-based Integrated Healthcare Association for a demonstration project to speed the adoption and use of new cardiovascular and orthopedic medical devices; $430,000 to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc. to establish methods for producing broadly accepted clinical and cost-effectiveness appraisals of medical innovations; and $410,000 to the Health Technology Center of San Francisco to provide better information about promising but unproven medical technologies to healthcare decision makers.
The foundation also awarded $300,000 to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University to help convene a multi-disciplinary group of experts to study and report on issues related to creating an effective and equitable healthcare financing system that can lead to universal coverage. "Developing and effectively communicating information about the relative effectiveness of new medical technologies and treatments is critical to improving the quality of health care in California," said foundation president Crystal Hayling. "These grants reflect our continuing commitment to help equip doctors throughout the state with the information they need to provide increasingly effective care for their patients."
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