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Happy Holidays!
Join us for the Health Authority's holiday reception Dec. 5
The Health Authority will hold a holiday reception for partners and supporters of its mission on Friday, Dec. 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is good time for all who share our commitment to improving the health care safety net to reflect on our achievements and prepare for the year ahead. A brief program will be held at noon. Refreshments will be served throughout the reception.
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Western Wayne initiative begins in '09
As the East Side initiative enters its operational phase, attention has now turned to safety net issues in Western Wayne County. Using the collaborative model that created a community-based solution for the health delivery vacuum created by the closure of Detroit Riverview Hospital, the Health Authority will assemble health and human interests engaged in areas of Detroit's West Side, the Downriver communities of Ecorse and Riverview, and outlying areas of Western Wayne County. The initiate is expected to begin in February. Details will be announced in upcoming issues of e-Path.
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| Health Authority, WSU School of Medicine safety net conference -- May 14-15, '09
Together with the Wayne State University School of Medicine, the Health Authority plans to bring together leaders of health authorities and safety net organizations throughout the country at a conference planned for May 14-15, 2009, called "Weaving a Seamless Fabric of Services for the Uninsured."
The conference will include the follow topical areas:
- Application of the Medical Home Concept nationwide
- A perspective on the new president's health policy
- The Michigan and local Detroit-area experience of safety net providers
- Clinical issues in chronic disease management, the role of clinical protocols.
- The use of technological innovation such as electronic medical records, e-prescribing, and telemedicine to enhance the delivery of care
For more information on this conference, call 871-3751, ext. 110. |
New Director of Primary Care Initiatives joins staff
Joslyn M. Pettway, a recent graduate from the Master's in Health Service Administration program at the University of Michigan, School of Public Health, has been appointed Director of Primary Care Initiatives at the Health Authority, announced Chris Allen, CEO. "We are very pleased to give Joslyn an opportunity to develop our new department of Primary Care Initiatives," Allen said. "Her first major challenge will be to organize primary care services on Detroit's Near Eastside."
Pettway was pursuing an administrative fellowship at the Health Authority at the time of her appointment. She had primary responsibility for helping develop the Near Eastside initiative. "We were very impressed with Joslyn's knowledge and ability to work among many different interest groups, who helped us achieve the Near Eastside initiative," Allen added.
In her role, Pettway will be responsible for developing comprehensive networks of primary care in medically underserved areas of Detroit and Wayne County, establishing "medical homes" which provide a continuum of medical, dental, and mental health care, along with health promotion and disease prevention services.
Along with her Master's in Health Service Administration, Pettway has received a Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Sociology from the University of Michigan. She is married to Elder Isaiah Pettway and lives in Southfield.
Medicaid managers expand outreach potential
The Health Authority has added two new staff members to manage Medicaid-related activities, announced Faith Polk, Outreach Director. Michelle D. Adams Calloway has been appointed Medicaid Outreach Manager, and Simon Pop has been named Medicaid Patient Finance Manager.
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MPCA receives grant to help expand access to health care
The Michigan Primary Care Association (MPCA) recently received a health center planning grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand access to health care through community health centers in Detroit. Four Detroit Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (FQHC) - Advantage Health Centers, CHASS Inc., Covenant Community Care, and Detroit Community Health Connection - are funded through the HRSA Section 330 program. In addition, two FQHC "look-alike" community health centers - Health Centers Detroit Medical Group and Wellness Plan Health Centers - do not receive Section 330 funding, but meet the same requirements as FQHCs.
While these six organizations share a commitment to provide health care for all, regardless of ability to pay or insurance status, cannot adequately provide care for the growing number of uninsured and underinsured patients in the community. They currently serve about 65,000 patients. With considerably greater need, PMCA will use the HRSA grant to assist the health centers in their planning and preparation of applications for additional federal funding for new service delivery sites to better meet this need.
"Without a health care home that Detroit residents can turn to for comprehensive health care, including medical, dental, and behavioral health, emergency rooms will continue to be overcrowded," according to Angel Goodwin, JD, MPCA Community Development and Planning Manager. "We all know that health care provided in the emergency room is one of the costliest forms of health care there is." A recent Medicaid Fee for Service study determined that community health centers save the state $44.87 per member per month in Michigan Medicaid expenditures.
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Dr. Smitherman recommended for U.S. Surgeon General
Herb Smitherman, M.D., President of Health Centers Detroit, has been nominated by Congressman John Conyers as a candidate for U.S. Surgeon General. President-Elect Obama's Transition Team will consider Dr. Smitherman, along with other candidates, for the top medical appointment in the country. In his nomination letter, Rep. Conyers noted, "Your integrity, academic excellence, health policy leadership, as well as your intellectual interests and career pursuits have supplemented your commitment to finding solutions for providing health care services to the uninsured and underinsured."
Dr. Smitherman, assistant dean of Community and Urban Health at Wayne State University School of Medicine, recently received the school's Trailblazer Award.
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President-Elect Obama's appointments suggest health policy direction
President-elect Obama's nomination of former Sen. Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and John Podesta, as co-chair of the transition team, suggests that the new president will take an aggressive stance on health care reform. Daschle, author of "Critical: What Can We Do About The Health-Care Crisis," is likely to establish a health care board, similar in function to the Federal Reserve Board, to provide public oversight on the private health care system. Podesta, head of the Center for American Progress, has been an advisor to Obama on a variety of issues, including health care. For a detailed analysis of how health policy could take shape in the new administration, go to the Health Authority's website, www.healthaccess1.org.
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U-M study examines emergency department crowding
In a sense, a recent University of Michigan study documents the obvious to those who work in the health care safety net - many uninsured patients are going without primary and chronic care until they become so sick that they have to go to an emergency department. While true, they're not the reason why emergency departments are often clogged. In fact, according to the study, only 17 percent of emergency visits in the United States involve uninsured patients - but that is still a financial stressor for hospitals.
Actually, the study did more to highlight a crisis in primary care delivery - the rise in emergency visits was often the result of insured and uninsured patients who don't have access to primary care. Perhaps the development of a network of medical homes on Detroit's Near East Side may provide a model not only for the safety net in Detroit and Wayne County, but throughout the region.
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Backgrounder
Oregon overhauls its health care system
The Oregon Health Fund Board, Nov. 17, adopted recommendations to reorganize the state's health care system and provide coverage to all state residents by 2019, according to the Oregonian. The plan recommends taxing hospitals and health insurers and using the money to extend coverage to 100,000 low income uninsured adults by 2013. The taxes would generate an estimated $700 million over two years. The program is expected to cost $5-7 million, but save $10 billion over 10 years.
The plan will create a nine-member Oregon Health Authority Board and encourage health care professionals to establish "integrated health homes," among other recommendations.
The Oregon plan would also regulate hospital prices and insurance company administrative costs, and would increase taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to fund mental health services and public education programs on chronic disease prevention. State and local governments and eventually private insurers would consolidate purchasing to negotiate better prices for prescription drugs, insurance, and other services. The system would eventually require all providers to convert to electronic medical records and all residents would be required to have health insurance. Insurers would be required to cover people, regardless of pre-existing conditions.
For more information, visit www.oregon.gov/OHPPR/HFB/.
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The Detroit Wayne County Health Authority's mission is to coordinate efforts to meet the health needs of the uninsured and underinsured residents in Detroit and Wayne County by assuring access and improving the health status of all people.
"It's about access...for all."
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