Community Care is a group of local health care providers working together to provide health care to all patients in a specific area. Many states have Community Care networks that have operations in counties to serve state residents who may little to no health coverage.

The purpose of Community Care is to organize public health departments, mental health agencies, local doctors, hospitals and various community providers. The goal is to improve a patient\’s care and save on the costs for local health programs and money for state Medicaid.

Children are the majority of the clients for the Community Care networks in most states. Other clients may include elderly individuals or people with disabilities. A medical condition, disability or drug issues are a high percentage of these clients.

Costs that are saved will vary from state to state. Medicaid savings can reach millions of dollars or more in a state that can realize savings. The cost of Medicaid may increase in various states that can offset savings for a Community Care network.

Improvement in the quality of care for patients is included in performance information that is offered to each of the physicians in the network. This information can be use to make improvements to care. Doctors that provide care will work together to drive down costs to save money and to improve care.

Goals for Community Care networks will depend on their priorities. These may include patients having a specific disease, decreasing the readmission rate for hospitals and lowering the costs incurred when a prescription drug is needed. The reduction of the emergency room visit rate for the elderly and disabled is also a goal.

Achieving the goals set by Community Care networks is done by using various methods. These include coordinating resources for doctor visits and hospitals stays for patients. Access to resources that are available in a community is also provided to patients. Coordination between agencies is required to prevent patients from receiving duplicate services.