UNC receives $6M for back care program

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s Innovation Center has selected UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine to receive a $6 million grant for its Better Back Care program.

It’s part of the second round of Health Care Innovation Awards, which “are funding grants to applicants who will implement the most compelling new ideas to deliver better health, improved care and lower costs.”

The Better Back Care program will create a medical neighborhood linking about 60 primary care providers with the UNC spine program.

“The UNC Hospitals Spine Center provides back care that is patient-centered, high quality and cost effective. With this $6 million award, we will be able to expand this approach to the patients of 60 top primary care physicians in the Triangle,” says Dr. Matthew Ewend, chair of neurosurgery in the UNC School of Medicine, in a release.

UNC is one of 39 recipients nationally.