MaY 2011 Issue

Regional Health Care Initiative update

During first quarter of 2011, the Safety Net Collaborative and Children’s System Change Committee formed six new work groups and task teams, selected chairs and co-chairs, and identified key focus areas for 2011-2012:

• Safety Net Specialty Care Task Team
  Co-Chairs Hilda Fuentes, CEO, Samuel U. Rodgers, and Beth Kalberg, senior director of patient care services, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Medical Clinic
• Assess the need for and availability of specialty care for medically underserved patients, and develop various strategies to meet the identified gaps in service.
  
  
• Safety Net After-Hours/Care Coordination Committee
  Chair Jimmy Brown, vice president of operations, Swope Health Services
• Continue to oversee, monitor and report to the SNC on the extended-hours pilot project and care-coordination opportunities. This is an important avenue for providing enhanced patient care while extending limited resources, and will be a major focus in health reform and other venues.
  
  
• Safety Net Infrastructure Support
  Co-Chairs Bridget McCandless, medical director, Shared Care Free Health Clinic of Jackson County, and Amy Falk, executive director, Caritas Clinics
• Articulate the need for funding for basic safety net clinic infrastructure so that new initiatives can be successfully undertaken; work with funders to develop strategies to meet this need.
  
  
• Children’s System Change Needs Assessment Work Group
  Chair Tom Cranshaw, executive director, Tri-County Mental Health Services
• Ensure appropriate utilization of resources through a children’s needs assessment that will identify current services and gaps in services available to children with behavioral health issues.
  
  
• Children’s System Change Prevention Work Group
  Chair Molly Rush, Truman Behavioral Health
• Promote educational and early intervention activities for families and children’s communities and promote the efficacy of prevention.
  
  
• Children’s System Change Coordination of Care Workgroup
  Chair Stan Edlavitch, professor, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
• Develop pathways to ensure coordination of care from all systems that touch children and families. Identify existing care coordination systems in the Kansas City area.

For more information, contact Scott Lakin, Regional Health Initiative director, 816-474-4240.

Health insurance exchanges moving forward in Missouri and Kansas

In Kansas, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger led the formation of eight work groups to develop the state’s health insurance exchange. At a kickoff in January, Commissioner Praeger said she intends to present an exchange plan to the state legislature in 2012. Both the governor and the legislature will need to approve the plan and any modifications to state law necessary for its implementation. The work groups and chairs are:

• Focus and Business Operation Issues, Matt All, chief counsel for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas
• Governance/Legal /Legislative, Jeff Ellis, attorney, Spencer Fane
• Background, Kansas Health Institute
• Consumer Outreach/Education/Information, Bob Stephan, Former Kansas Attorney General
• Insurance Market  Issues, Marlene Carpenter,  executive director, Kansas Association  of Free Health Care Plans
• Funding /Financial, Doug Farmer, vice president, Sunflower Foundation, and former director of the State Employees Health Benefit Plan
• Agents/Broken/Navigators, Leroy Brungardt, former top regulator at the Kansas Insurance Department
• Medicaid Integration and Interagency Communications, Andy Allison, executive director, Kansas Health Policy

In Missouri, Rep. Chris Molendorp of Cass County has sponsored HB609 to create a health insurance exchange. Passage of the bill is necessary for Missouri to meet the federal deadline to have a state exchange in place and approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by January 1, 2014. There will be time to negotiate with Missouri health care providers over the details of the exchange prior to submission to HHS in 2013.

Patient-Centered Medical Home Summit

The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City will host a Patient-Centered Medical Home Summit on Wednesday, May 25, from 8 am. To 4 p.m. at the Kauffman Conference Center in Kansas City, Mo., with special presenter Melinda Abrams, vice president of patient-centered coordinated care at the Commonwealth Fund. Topics will include:

• Tenets of a patient-centered medical home model
• Best practices from regional and national patient-centered medical home efforts
• Health information technology, workflow redesign, and performance measurement approaches
• Implementation experiences from safety net and private practice providers

Register online at www.hcfgkc.org/events.

TMC Healthy Harvest Produce Market now open

The health care professionals at Truman Medical Centers believe that a dedication to wellness and healthy choices is a vital component in preventing illness and improving the quality of life for patients, staff and the surrounding community. One of the most important components of a healthy lifestyle is good nutrition. Working with Morrison Healthcare Food Services, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, Loffredo Fresh Produce Co. and Beans and Greens, TMC has developed the Healthy Harvest Produce Market to further the cause of good nutrition for its employees and neighbors. The market, located on Hospital Hill at 23rd and Charlotte, is open to the public every Wednesday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. through November 22.

This year, TMC is making it a priority to encourage the community to visit the market by reaching out to churches, local businesses, neighborhood associations, elected officials, health care clinics and surrounding hospitals. The goal is to help the community gain access to affordable, healthy choices while also promoting food preparation, nutrition and preventive health and wellness. To make the market more accessible to those in the urban core, TMC has arranged for a shuttle from the Lucile H. Bluford Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, 3050 Prospect, to the market and back.

At the Healthy Harvest Market this year, shoppers will find fresh-baked artisan breads still warm from the TMC ovens, fruits and vegetables at lower-than-retail prices, select specialty foods, healthy cooking demonstrations, registered dieticians and wellness experts on site to discuss health topics, fresh flowers, healthy recipes, and special events and presentations. New this year, the market will now be authorized to accept SNAP vouchers used by the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (previously called food stamps).

TMC Lakewood, located in Eastern Jackson County, also sponsors a Produce Market on the second Tuesday of every month. The public is welcome there, as well.

"The Q" Clinic serves an important need in Northeast KCK

In April 2009, Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care opened a satellite clinic — now known as “The Q”—in the basement of the Faith Lutheran Church at 5th and Quindaro in the Northeast area of Kansas City, Kan.  The Quindaro Family Health Care clinic, part of the Regional Health Initiative’s after-hours project, provides primary health services to the residents of Wyandotte County, especially those living in the 66101 zip code.  That zip code is one of the poorest and most underserved in the metropolitan area, with nearly 42.2 percent of residents living at or below the poverty level, and with a median annual income of less than $20,000.

In 2010, the Q, the only health care provider in the area, served 234 patients in 497 encounters.  The clinic is currently open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday.  As patient numbers increase, the Q is committed to increasing its clinic sessions to provide greater access. 

In addition to primary health services for patients of all ages, the Q provides a variety of support services that are essential to the patient population:  pharmacy assistance, mental health, legal services, literacy support and social services (emergency assistance).  Because of the extreme poverty in the area, the Q is also partnering with community residents, neighborhood organizations and institutions in developing and expanding initiatives that contribute to better health outcomes and help create employment and increase community wealth. 

The Quindaro Family Health Care project is an important addition to the safety net community, and demonstrates the MARC Regional Health Initiative’s commitment to increasing access to quality medical care. 

Health care coverage through jobs falls further

On May 6, Diane Stafford reported in The Kansas City Star that for the first time since 2000, the share of individuals with employment-based health coverage fell below 60 percent in 2009. An Employee Benefit Research Institute study written by Paul Fronstin states that the 2007-09 recession sped up the “slow erosion” of employment-based health insurance and that 2009 marked the biggest one-year drop in coverage.

Workers most likely to experience the loss of employer-based coverage were those making less than $40,000 per year. Among workers making more than $40,000, no statistically significant decline in coverage occurred. Similarly, a loss of employment-based health coverage was more likely among workers with only a high school education or less.

Missouri broadband effort seeks community input

The state of Missouri has initiated a study to determine future investments in high-speed broadband services to support community and economic development. MOBroadbandNow is working in cooperation with regional councils of local government around the state, including the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) to solicit input from diverse community interests through online surveys. This effort is directed towards all stakeholders in the region, including economic development, public safety, energy, environment, agriculture, health care, higher education, local government, libraries, tourism and local broadband and existing Internet service providers.

Input from these stakeholders will be used to prepare plans to ensure that the state is able to expand the reach of affordable high-speed Internet access to 95 percent of Missourians within the next five years.  The goal of the project is to ensure that expanded broadband infrastructure and services will be available to meet the growing needs of citizens, businesses, nonprofit organizations and public institutions. More information is available online.

Your participation in this important effort is needed to help the region and the state identify existing broadband capabilities and determining future needs. Please take a few minutes and answer a brief survey about your broadband service availability and needs at one of the following survey websites. To ensure that your input is considered in the state’s planning work, please complete your survey by May 30, 2011.

• Community and Social Services Survey
• Health Care Sector Survey

Information from these surveys will be compiled for the Kansas City region and provided to the state. From this needs assessment, a strategic plan will be drafted to identify steps to improve broadband services for our region and other parts of the state.