Grant program overview

Independence Blue Cross (Independence) is proud to offer a competitive Clinical Care Innovation Grant Program (Grant Program). The Grant Program is intended to foster new, innovative approaches to care delivery that will ultimately help improve the health and well-being of a provider's patient population. If the new approaches are found to be effective in helping Independence members, we hope to share them more broadly with the providers in our network, so the community at large can benefit from their success.

Independence will award up to five grants in 2024 to health systems and large specialty groups that have value-based care contracts with Independence. Awarding the grants and disbursing grant funding is contingent upon Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval or waiver. All grant proposals and awards must comply with all applicable state and federal requirements, including, but not limited to, all requirements and regulations imposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Please note: Each entity is permitted up to three submissions for the 2024 cycle. The deadline for submissions is October 5, 2023.

Submission criteria

For the Grant Program, we are seeking submissions that focus on the following:

• New, innovative approaches to care delivery (i.e., not having been done elsewhere), including those that leverage technology and virtual care
• Clinical approaches that result in improved quality, patient experience, access to care, and/or lower health care costs
• Approaches that bring patient care to the home setting if needed
• Approaches/capabilities that are not currently supported by Independence's provider incentive programs
• Approaches that integrate behavioral health strategies into care delivery
• Approaches that seek to achieve health equity

Important dates

If you are interested in applying for the Grant Program, please note the following dates:

• Submission deadline: October 5, 2023
• Independence committee internal review: October 5 to 19, 2023
• Finalists notified: October 20, 2023
• "Pitch Day" for finalists: November 16, 2023
• Winners notified: November 17, 2023
• Grant Program launch: January/February 2024

What you need to apply

If you are interested in applying for the Grant Program, your grant proposal should include the following information:

1. Pilot scope/problem statement
2. A description of how your clinical approach is new (i.e., targets improvement)
3. A description of the use of technology or other advancements to improve care
4. Evaluation metrics, including clinical, financial, and patient experience
5. A program description, including duration and how the study will be administered (be sure to include study personnel, timeline and deliverables, and demographic sample profiles)
6. Sustainability approach post-pilot and plan to scale to full target population(s)
7. A detailed funding request plan and description of how funds will be used
8. IRB submission status (If not submitted yet, provide a plan for when and where you intend to submit. Please contact us for guidance if needed.)
9. Intended publication/manuscript development plans

How to apply

Ready to get started? Here's how to apply:

1. Please review the Clinical Care Innovation Grant Program information (above).
2. Download the Grant Submission Form.
3. Complete and save the Grant Submission Form¹ locally on your device.
4. Attach and email your Grant Submission Form to independenceccigrantsubmission@ibx.com. Please include any questions you have in the body of the email, and we will reply in a timely manner.

Frequently asked questions

For any additional questions you may have about the Grant Program, please refer to our frequently asked questions.