Authority Health: Community-Based Graduate Medical Education Consortium Residency Program
Click here to find out more about Authority Health—a unique opportunity to learn the practice of primary care medicine at the grassroots community level.
Click here to find out more about Authority Health—a unique opportunity to learn the practice of primary care medicine at the grassroots community level.
Changes have been proposed to the Bylaws of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority. The proposed changes are outlined here.
Proposed changes are noted in red.
Article I
Principle Office
“The principal office of the Authority shall be at such place within the City of Detroit, State of Michigan as the Authority Board shall determine from time to time.”
Change “Authority” in this passage and any other occurrences of the phrase throughout the document to “Health Authority.”
Article III
Officers
“3.09 Board Officer Vacancies. The Authority Board may fill any vacancies in any office occurring for whatever reason.”
Include “as identified in the Interlocal Agreement.” Passage should read: “The Health Authority Board may fill any vacancies in any office occurring for whatever reason as identified in the Interlocal Agreement.”
Article V
Standing Committees
“5.01 Standing Committees. The Authority Board shall establish and appoint members to a Community Advisory Committee, a Provider Advisory Committee, and an Audit Committee as standing committees. The committees shall have the powers and duties provided for in the Interlocal Agreement and such other powers and duties as the Authority Board shall deem appropriate. The Authority Board shall determine the process used to select and determine the terms of all standing committee members. Members of the standing committees shall serve without compensation.”
Include Budget and Finance Committee in the list of committees. The passage should read “The Health Authority Board shall establish and appoint members to a Community Advisory Committee, a Provider Advisory Committee, a Budget and Finance Committee, and an Audit Committee as standing committees…”
The following statement was released on Friday, Aug. 12, by Chris Allen, Executive Director and CEO of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority.
On August 9, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced funding for 67 new community health centers throughout the country as part of the Affordable Care Act. Despite 25 applications for new access points made by community health organizations in Michigan – nine from Wayne County – none received HHS funding. California received 20.
No state economy has been hit harder than Michigan in recent years, and no urban area is suffering more than Detroit and Wayne County. Yet HHS has overlooked the health disparities and inequity in this region. We find this unacceptable and inconsistent with the philosophy of health reform.
The applications made in Wayne County were based on a study conducted with the Michigan Primary Care Association to determine the need and location of new community health centers and prepared by skilled grant writers. The philanthropic community generously contributed $330,000 to support grant writing on behalf of local applicants.
The Detroit Wayne County Health Authority will work with the Michigan Primary Care Association, other health organizations, and elected officials, to seek recourse in this ill-advised action.
Our community deserves better judgment by our government.
For details on the HHS announcement go to www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/08/20110809a.html
The Health Authority’s mission is about access to health care for all. But it’s about more than that. It’s about access to health – the right to health in a culture that promotes health equity.
The inequality of health status in our country is appalling. While we strive for maximum enrollment in health insurance programs and the expansion of community health and wellness resources, the bottom line is that the quality of your health is largely determined by where you live. Health disparities fall along the lines of race, ethnicity, and geography. Often those correlate as one.
The Health Authority has been, and continues to be committed to increasing access to Medicaid, MI Child, and other health benefit programs for the uninsured and underinsured. With the promise of health reform extending Medicaid to thousands more in Michigan, we anticipate the potential of much greater access to health services.
Additionally, we remain committed to expanding community health services such as federally qualified health centers, other community health centers, and free clinics.
Community health scholars and practitioners have established the importance of place in determining health status: the quality of environmental health, personal safety, availability of public and private health services, access to fresh food and cultural practices with regard to food preparation, health literacy, and transportation are among the issues that define place and impact health disparities.
The essential question in our national health debate is whether we will accept that personal health and well-being is an essential right of living in America. That question remains unanswered, but the Health Authority is committed to working with community health advocates such as MOSES, MichUHCAN, and others to create an environment that promotes health equity and reduces health disparities.
Ultimately, we all have to work for health equity. It’s a movement.
Program to Focus on Improving Quality of Health Care to Wayne County Children
Wayne Children’s Healthcare Access Program Launches
DETROIT, MICH Wayne Childrens Healthcare Access Program (WCHAP) is a private-public collaborative that was recently awarded a two-year demonstration grant from The Kresge Foundation to improve the quality of care to Wayne County children while simultaneously lowering associated health care costs.
WCHAP is part of a national movement to increase the quality of healthcare by increasing the medical homeness of primary care practices. The medical home is an approach that transforms primary care practices to be more accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective.
The Childrens Healthcare Access Program, CHAP is a proven medical home model that will impact 25,000 Medicaid Children in Detroit-Wayne County. Working in Collaboration with the Pilot Primary Care Practices, Health Plans, State and Local Health and Mental Health, Education, Families and Community Based Organizations, WCHAP will serve 2,500 to 3,000 children with direct services designed to:
1. Increase quality, well child visits, and care coordination;
2. Decrease costs by lowering unnecessary emergency services and hospitalizations;
3. Support primary care practices and school health clinics to improve medical homeness;
4. Specialty collaboration: asthma, obesity, integrated behavioral health and physical health, and maternal-child-teen health.
We are excited about working with our pilot primary care practices as they strive to improve childrens healthcare, says, says Jametta Lilly, WCHAP project director. WCHAP will provide support and technical assistance including developing practice based and project wide quality indicators such as, increasing clinic hours to improve access to implementing asthma initiatives and exploring best practices to reduce childhood obesity.
Modeled after the KentCHAP program in Grand Rapids, Wayne CHAP is the second pilot to go ‘live’ in Michigan. The Wayne CHAP pilot was originally supported through the Early Childhood Investment Corporation and the Great Start Collaborative-Wayne.
The launch of Wayne CHAP is a vital step in the continued improvement of the well being of Wayne County children, says Toni Hartke, director of the Great Start Collaborative in Wayne County. Good health and the access of quality care are core building blocks for school readiness. Success in school is influenced by a myriad of factors. Certainly, access to affordable and responsive medical assistance when needed is one of them.
Two states in the U.S., where the CHAP model originated, have experienced significant Medicare cost savings. Currently, four counties in Michigan support the medical home model at varying levels. If successful, WCHAP and KentCHAP could be models for the state.
“Children can’t learn if they aren’t healthy,” said Judy Y. Samelson, CEO of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, which provided a planning grant to Wayne CHAP. Medical homes are one of the simplest yet most profound ways in which we can improve the health of children in Michigan and help them arrive at kindergarten ready, willing and able to learn.
WCHAP makes the child physical-mental health-education connection. WCHAP has strategic partnerships with the Detroit Public Schools and Wayne RESA, MI Dept of Community Health, The Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Agency and the Wayne County Dept of Human Services as well as the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion.
We are particularly committed to strengthening care coordination between primary care providers and mental health, education, human services, faith based and early care and learning providers, adds Lilly. By working together to improve the quality of care and reducing ER and unnecessary hospitalizations we will see a return on investment. Through meaningful partnerships with families, providers and community organizations, we can positively impact the health and wellness of our children
Working with these strategic partners and preferred referral agencies, WCHAP will help connect the pilot primary care practices to their services and vice versa. WCHAP direct services include behavioral health triage and coordination, asthma case management, and family support services such as transportation and translation. WCHAP will also serve as a connector and provide regular collaborative meetings to increase quality and care coordination using data dashboards to help drive change.
The Detroi8t Wayne County Health Authority is a partner and the WCHAP fiduciary. Were extremely pleased to be a strategic partner with WCHAP. This relationship helps us achieve our goals of providing access to a medical home for all, says Chris Allen, executive director and CEO of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority. The WCHAP organization is passionate about their mission, and the Health Authority will lend as much support as we can to maximize their success.
The effort to deliver a high-quality, patient-centered medical home will be met with some challenges. But, the models two-fold approach of direct service and collaboration will attempt to fill gaps by working with primary care practices, health plans, state and local health and mental health agencies, educators, families, and community-based organizations.
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The Wayne Childrens Healthcare Access Program (WCHAP) believes every child deserves a medical home. To learn more about WCHAP, visit www.dwchap.org
Great Start Collaborative-Wayne builds collaboration through parents, service providers and professionals to assure a coordinated system of services and resources to assist all Wayne County families with children from pre-birth through age eight. Visit www.greatstartcollaborativewayne.org.
The Early Childhood Investment Corporation is a public/private initiative working to restructure Michigans investment in children from birth to five through state and local community efforts. For more information on ECIC and its efforts, visit http://greatstartforkids.org.
KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION LAUNCHES ONLINE HEALTH REFORM SOURCE TO EXPLAIN, ANALYZE AND TRACK THE NEW LAWS IMPLEMENTATION New Initial Features Include Animated Movie Explaining the Law, Policy and Public Opinion Monitoring, and State-Specific Data |
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MENLO PARK, Calif. — Nearly six months since the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and as some key provisions are due to be implemented, the Kaiser Family Foundation today launched an online gateway providing easy access to new and comprehensive resources on the health reform law. Recognizing the transition from the debate about passage to the realities of implementing a law, the Health Reform Source, http://healthreform.kff.org, has many new features that provide explanations of the basics of the law, in-depth analysis of policy issues in implementation, and quick and easy access to relevant data, studies and developments.
The Source features the premiere of “Health Reform Hits Main Street,” a new animated short movie designed to explain the health reform law to an American public still confused by how it works. Written and produced by the Foundation, the animated movie features narration by Cokie Roberts, ABC News and NPR news commentator and a member of the Foundations Board of Trustees. The movie has three major sections: explaining problems in the current health care system, short-term changes that will take place between now and 2014, and major provisions that will take effect in 2014.
Another new feature, The Scan, provides a daily feed of easily-digestible summaries of the latest research and studies from the Foundation and others, as well as official actions and other developments related to the health law. The site also features the Foundations Twitter entries on health care reform and links to Kaiser Health News stories to provide U.S. policymakers, journalists, the health care policy community and the general public easy access to timely information about the law.
“We will continue to update and expand the information we provide through the Health Reform Source as implementation ramps up over the next several years,” Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman. “The Source will be the place where people can go to understand how the new health law really works, and for the latest policy information from us and others.”
The Health Reform Source will also feature ongoing and future research and analysis on the health law conducted by Foundation experts, with a special area of emphasis on the 50 states as they proceed with the implementation of the law with varying approaches and results. As more provisions of the law are implemented, the Foundation will add explanatory, basic information, summaries of the changes and new analyses.
Other new elements available on the Source include:
A customizable Implementation Timeline which presents a detailed list of major provisions that can be viewed by year or by topic.
A series of Video Explainer clips of Foundation experts answering specific questions about the law on a variety of health policy topics.
An interactive state map of the U.S. that features pop-up boxes of key state-specific information related to health coverage and the health law, and links to new health reform pages on the Foundations statehealthfacts.org featuring key data, reports, and news for each state.
The Public Opinion: Poll Watch featuring a weekly round-up of surveys from the Foundation and others assessing public attitudes and experiences over time related to the health reform law.
The Foundations updated Health Reform Subsidy Calculator to illustrate premiums, government subsidies and out-of-pocket costs for people eligible for health coverage in exchanges due to be established in 2014.
An Official Document Finder that provides quick access to federal regulations and studies related the health law.
A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) database addressing questions about the health law.
Government Resources provide links to federal government websites that provide information to consumers and regulatory guidance about the provisions of the law.
Kaisers Health Reform Source can be viewed online at http://healthreform.kff.org and you can subscribe to alerts via email and RSS feeds. Additionally, the Foundation has established a Facebook page for the Health Reform Source which will feature additional related material.
Content on the site will be continually updated, and new features will be added in the coming weeks and months, including an interactive tool that will illustrate how reform affects different groups of people, video profiles showing the experiences of real people and businesses, and a primer on the health reform law.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible analysis and information on health issues.
DETROIT — The leaders of health systems serving Wayne County have agreed to pursue initiatives that will help contain uncompensated care which has been an increasing fiscal burden and create systems that will more appropriately and cost-effectively meet the health and social needs of uninsured and underinsured people.
Chaired by Nancy Schlichting, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System, the Uncompensated Care Committee of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority focused its work in three areas:
I am pleased to have had an opportunity to chair this effort, primarily because the problem of uncompensated care is so acute in our community, said Schlichting. Health systems in Southeast Michigan provided more than $600 million in uncompensated care in 2008. Clearly, there is a responsibility for providers to innovate in this area to think differently about the challenges we all have for providing care for the uninsured and under insured. This has created a sense of urgency to really make a difference.
Health systems represent a major component of the safety net. This initiative has shown how creativity and commitment by the provider community can result in innovative solutions, said Chris Allen, CEO of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority. Under the leadership of Nancy Schlichting and the collaboration of regional health systems, we have forged a plan that will ensure that many uninsured and underinsured people with urgent health problems have a medical home to treat them in a timely, appropriate manner. At the same time, emergency department volume will decrease, allowing providers to care for truly emergent patients and reduce uncompensated care costs for hospitals.
The Uncompensated Care Committee will be reorganized to implement these recommendations during 2010. Members of the committee include Dennis Herrick, senior vice-president & CEO, Beaumont Hospitals; Kevin Seitz, executive vice-president, Health Care Value Enhancement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; Dr. Paul LaCasse, president & CEO, Botsford Hospital; Michael Duggan, president & CEO, Detroit Medical Center; Jay Rising, executive vice president & CFO, Detroit Medical Center; Gary Ley, president & CEO, Garden City Hospital; James Connelly, senior vice president & CFO, Henry Ford Health System; Spencer Johnson, president, Michigan Health and Hospital Association; David Seaman, executive vice president, Michigan Health and Hospital Association; Peter Schonfeld, senior vice president, Policy & Data Services, Michigan Health and Hospital Association; Denise Holmes, associate dean for Government Relations and Outreach, Michigan State University Institute of Health Studies; Brian Connolly, president & CEO, Oakwood Health; Doug Welday, chief financial officer, Oakwood Health; Bob Hobin, chief strategy officer, St. John Health; Patrick McGuire, chief financial officer, St. John Health; Stephen Fitton, acting bureau director, State of Michigan Medicaid Services Administration; Garry Faja, president of St. Joseph Health System, Trinity Health; Adam Jablonowski, executive director, Wayne County Medical Society; Robert Frank, M.D., executive vice dean, Wayne State University School of Medicine. Chris Allen, executive director & CEO, Detroit Wayne County Health Authority; Janette Davis, chief financial officer, Detroit Wayne County Health Authority; Dick Bohrer, co-chair of the Health Authoritys primary Care Network Council and former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General; Neal Colburn, consultant, Michigan Primary Care Association; Joslyn Pettway, director of Primary Care Initiatives, Detroit Wayne County Health Authority.
Specific recommendations of the Uncompensated Committee include:
For more information on the Uncompensated Care Committee and other initiatives of the Health Authority, contact Chris Allen, executive director & CEO, at 313-871-3751.
DETROIT – The Detroit Wayne County Health Authority has established a fund to help offset the cost of providing primary care for the uninsured in community health centers, announced Chris Allen, Executive Director and CEO. Health centers will submit vouchers to the Health Authority valued at $20 to help offset the cost of a patient’s initial primary care visit.
The fund is formally known as “Access for all…Health Care Fund” and will be part of the Health Authority’s Primary Care Development Corporation, Allen said.
“I’m pleased to announce that today we are initiating a pilot voucher program that will help pay for the initial patient visit to a community health center,” he said. “We hope that we’re able to grow this fund one day to ensure that all of the uninsured have access to care in a community health center.”
The pilot program was established by the Health Authority with a $25,000 grant. Philanthropic organizations and other donors will be asked to help build the fund to eventually provide a major source of financing that will allow more uninsured people to receive care in community health centers.
The Detroit Wayne County Health Authority is a public body corporate, established in 2004 by the State of Michigan , City of Detroit and Wayne County . Its mission is to coordinate efforts to meet the health needs of the uninsured and underinsured residents in the City of Detroit and Wayne County by assuring access and improving the health status of all people.
The Detroit Wayne County Health Authority has begun using a web-based Medicaid enrollment service that will expedite the screening and enrollment of prospective Medicaid recipients. The new technology, called HelpEngen™, was developed by TriHealix, a health care technology firm based in Norwalk, CT. HelpEngen™ enables health care providers to connect uninsured patients to the right assistance program by facilitating the collection of patient information, providing an immediate assessment of whether the application might be approved for benefits, and generating all the appropriate application forms for potentially eligible patients. HelpEngen™ will be used by the Health Authority and will also be made available to health systems that it contracts with for Medicaid outreach.
“This is a major step forward in our drive to ensure that everyone who qualifies for health benefits is enrolled,” according to Chris Allen, CEO of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority. “This tool not only provides a much more expedient enrollment process, but it indicates who is likely not to qualify for benefits. We can then find alternate resources to meet their needs.
“For health systems, this tool also means greatly expanded capability to manage the growing financial burden of caring for their uninsured patients. So it represents a true win-win for both patients and providers. We believe that HelpEngen™ will become a national model for improving access to health care through the enrollment process.”
The HelpEngen™ platform supports best practices in patient access and revenue cycle management, by allowing providers to:
HelpEngen™, like computer-based tax software, offers an outreach worker a cleanly designed online interview that can be filled out within 30 minutes. HelpEngen™ then tests information collected in the interview against requirements for Medicaid and other public programs and returns a real-time detailed assessment of likely eligibility organized by program type with full program description, benefit level, and the reason why the patient is or is not eligible. At that point, the outreach worker can generate completed official application forms which can be printed for signature then saved electronically.
Initially, the forms will be mailed to the state Medicaid office. Eventually, however, the Health Authority hopes to establish an online link to the department, offering direct transmission of forms. Key information captured in the electronic interview includes demographics, insurance status, and health care use patterns, as well as all information required to determine eligibility and apply for public health coverage programs, hospital charity care programs, and uninsured patient discount programs.
While the technology has the capacity to calculate potential eligibility for any means-tested program, the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) will continue to make the actual eligibility determination. This tool will make their job easier. The Health Authority plans to work with DHS and the Michigan Department of Community Health to electronically submit the applications directly to local offices for determination of eligibility and enrollment. This technology will allow the Health Authority to begin to identify and assess the truly uninsured and develop the appropriate safety net measures necessary to ensure access to quality care.
“Outreach workers will find this a very helpful tool in conducting their client interviews,” explains Faith Polk, Medical Program Administrator for the Health Authority. “It will give people so much more information about eligibility.” There are several categories of Medicaid eligibility. It’s difficult for anyone to understand and reference all of them during a client interview, she adds.
For more information, please download the HelpEngen overview, below.
HelpEngen Overview (469.36 kB)
The Detroit Wayne County Health Authority will co-sponsor a
week-long sports physical program at Detroit’s Northwestern High
School, together with the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion, ThinkDetroit PAL and several area health plans April 13-17, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sports physicals and well-child exams will be provided free to youth ages 5 to 21. Sports backpacks will be given to the first 100 participants each day.
The program is open to all students who need physicals. Appointments are recommended. To make an appointment, call the Northwestern High School Teen Clinic at 313-596-0700, ext. 388.
“Youth programs, youth activities and youth sports programs are essential for the well being of students. The Health Authority is committed to ensuring that all young people have access to health care services so they can successfully participate in youth sport programs,” explained Chris Allen, Health Authority CEO. “Sports and back- to- school physicals are part of our overall commitment to helping provide prevention and wellness services in the health care safety net.”
Sports activities are important for youth development, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sports and physical activity programs can introduce youth to skills such as teamwork, self-discipline, sportsmanship, leadership, and socialization. “Participation in physical activities can promote social well-being among youth. The lack of health insurance and other economic barriers shouldn’t negatively impact access to the health care services or sports physicals needed for young people to participate in organized sports activities,” explained Faith Polk, Medicaid Programs Director.
“With parents having to make tough economic decisions, health care costs associated with organized sports may be a barrier to participation,” said Polk. “Due to the recession, many parents have lost income and health care coverage, making their family members potentially eligible for certain health programs.” The Health Authority’s outreach staff will be available to answer questions and provide application assistance with Medicaid, MICHILD and other health services programs during the physical program.
“The City of Detroit supports ensuring access to health care for all city residents; one method is through our school-based health program,” according to Audrey Smith, General Manager, Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion. The department is a co-sponsor of the physical program. “The teen health center at Northwestern High School is available for young people ages 10 through 19 who need health care services, regardless of their ability to pay. We are happy to team up with Think Detroit PAL, through the facilitation of the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority.”
The sports physical program is one of the outreach programs coordinated by the Health Authority in schools throughout Wayne County.
The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion School-Based Health Center at Northwestern High School, also a co-sponsor of the physical program, offers a variety of health services for young people ages 10 to 21, including primary care, physical exams/sports physicals, immunizations, nutrition programs, asthma control, mental health counseling, EPSDT screening, vision and hearing screening, vision and hearing screening, pregnancy testing, and STD testing.
Sponsors include The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness School-Based Health Center at Northwestern High School, and Medicaid health plans: Molina Healthcare, Health Plan of Michigan, ProCare Health Plan, Midwest Health Plan, Omni Care Health Plan, and Great Lakes Health Plan.