CMS Foundation

In March 1997, Colorado Medical Society established the Colorado Medical Society Foundation (CMSF) as a 501(c)3 organization. The foundation’s mission is to administer and financially manage programs that seek to improve access to health care and health services, with the potential to improve the health of Coloradans.

CMSF works closely with CMS to administer donations and grant-funded initiatives that advance the strategic priorities of physicians in Colorado.

Grants that support CMSF:

• Advanced Physician Leadership Program (APLP): Launched by CMS, this program was conducted in collaboration with the Regional Institute for Health and Environment Leadership during 2013-2014. The program was supported by a grant from Physicians Foundation and the Colorado Trust.
• Center for Improving Value in Health Care. The CMS Foundation administered a grant during 2008-2009 to support CIVHC, a public-private entity working to improve value across the entire health care system.
• Engaged Benefit Design: Funded by a three-year grant from the Colorado Health Foundation, CMSF became a fiscal sponsor for Engaged Benefit Design (EBD) in 2013, an organization with an approach to move consumer incentives away from unnecessary health care and toward effective care. EBD is also a method to make insurance coverage more affordable and available. The approach aims to educate and engage consumers in their health care decisions.
• Medical Clean Claims Task Force: Funded by a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation in 2012, CMSF became a fiscal sponsor for the Medical Clean Claims Transparency and Uniformity Act Task Force (MCCTF), a task force of providers, payers, facilitators and government representatives charged by House Bill 10-1332 with developing a standardized set of payment rules and claim edits to be used by payers and health care providers in Colorado. MCCTF’s goal is to create one consistent set of payment rules and edits everyone knows and uses to ensure that physicians’ claims are coded, submitted and processed “cleanly” the first time by all payers in Colorado, with the exception of Medicare.
• Physicians Foundation Optimizing Healthcare Through Technology grant: The objective of this grant from the Physicians Foundation was to provide web-based tools and other resources to inform, educate, and train physicians and their care teams on the effective strategies and practices to select, implement, and meaningfully use certified EHR technology. CMS worked closely with the Colorado Regional Extension Center (CO-REC), the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) and local county medical societies on this project during 2010-2011.
• Systems of Care/Patient Centered Medical Home: During 2009-2010, this grant from the Colorado Health Foundation was used to improve systems of care by supporting medical homes and the formation of medical neighborhoods.

Organizations that CMSF supports:

• CMS Education Foundation (CMS EF): The CMS Foundation provides significant donation funding to CMS EF, which offers tuition scholarships to select first-year medical students at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Since 2010, CMSF has donated more than  $115,000 to CMS EF.
• Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved (CCMU): The CMS Foundation provided donation funding to CCMU, a non-profit firm that helps reduce barriers to good health for medically underserved Coloradans.
• Colorado Rural Health Care (CRHC): The CMS Foundation provided a donation to CRHC for funding support to administer loan repayments to select physicians who practice in rural areas of Colorado.
• Doctors Care: The CMS Foundation provided donation funding to support costs associated with a Building Capital Campaign for Doctors Care, a non-profit organization, which provides access to affordable health care to the medically underserved in South Metro Denver.

The Board of Trustees of CMSF is committed to the success of these programs and excited about the possibilities they present for improving health care services in Colorado. The spirit of Colorado is alive in the many ways that we help our neighbors.

For information about the CMS Foundation, contact Mike Campo, CMS staff, at mike_campo@cms.org.