By Sarah Matott

smatott@currentargus.com @SarahMatott224 on Twitter

CARLSBAD>> The state of New Mexico has been awarded about $2 million by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in order to better develop the overall health care system in the state.

New Mexico is one of 28 states who will receive funds, provided by the Affordable Care Act, to design health care payment and service delivery models that will improve health care quality and lower costs.

"We are committed to partnering with New Mexico to advance the goals we all share: better care, smarter spending, and ultimately, healthier people," Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell stated in a news release.

In the same news release, it reports that 34 states are participating in a comprehensive state-based innovation in health system transformation.

State Innovation Models include the improvements of primary care through patient centered medical homes, providing technical assistance to health care providers and strengthening the health care workforce through education programs and inter-professional training.

The State Innovation Model initiative is one part of an overall effort to help lower costs and improve care through the Affordable Care Act.

Some of the initiatives have helped reduce hospital re-admissions in Medicare by nearly 8 percent between 2007 and 2013, reassuring that Medicare patients who have been discharged will not have to be readmitted.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has both the Alamogordo Ben Archer Health Center and Presbyterian Medical Services Sacramento Mountain Medical Center in Cloudcroft listed on their website as health care facilities where innovation models are being tested.

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New Mexico awarded nearly $2 million for health care improvements