The Health Authority has secured commitments from three community hospitals, Wayne State University and Health Centers Detroit to develop teaching health centers which will provide training opportunities for resident physicians, nurse practitioners, administrators, and other health professionals and technical workers to build a local primary care workforce in Wayne County. Research has shown that professionals who train in the health care safety net often continue working in the area following completion of their training. Jacki Leifer, a nationally respected consultant in this area, has been advising the Health Authority in this matter. Specific details will be announced in the coming months.

Backgrounders

Recent opinion polls show concern by voters for protecting Medicare/Medicaid and improving quality

In what could be a boost for preserving funding for Medicaid and Medicare, a Washington Post-ABC News poll last month says that Americans want to protect Medicare and Medicaid and support taxes on the wealthiest people. For details, go to: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-shows-americans-oppose-entitlement-cuts. Also, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation poll in April shows that most Americans believe the quality of U.S. health care is average at best. More than half of Americans give health care a passing grade, with 11 percent giving it a failing grade. "The poll is a wake-up call for payers and the health care industry, both of which have been working steadily to improve the quality of care but need to kick their efforts into overdrive toward accountability," noted Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., MBA, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson foundation. The poll also noted that most Americans do not perceive racial/ethnic disparities exist in the quality of hospital care. Despite numerous studies that show evidence of the racial and ethnic disparities in health care, most Americans don't believe that to be the case when it comes to hospital care. No reference was made to primary care. To review this poll visit www.rwjf.org/healthpolicy/product.

Community health centers squeezed on capacity as access expands

While some legislators propose significant cuts in funding for federally qualified health centers, health policy analysts estimate that health reform could double the number of people they treat. "As the number of uninsured has risen to 50 million, more people than ever are struggling to get pay for health care, and community health centers are an affordable option," notes Kaiser Health News. The Health Authority's Primary Care Network Council (PCNC) is working to expand the capacity of community health centers in the region, but that depends on funding for community health centers and relatively slow facility growth. The PCNC is pursuing this work through four sub-groups, "Impact of Health Care Reform on the safety net," "Strengthen and/or expand access pints," "Increasing the current and future numbers of primary care providers," and "Increase community-wide awareness of the capacity and value of the Detroit and Wayne County safety net providers."

Kaiser Health News also notes that while there are incentives in the health care law to encourage development of medical homes, few community health centers qualify. Citing a 2010 Commonwealth Fund survey of 800 community health centers noted that only 29 percent had all five medical-home indicators it measured, including usually providing same-or-next-day appointments, off-hours clinical advice, tracking of test results, tracking of patient referrals to specialists, and being able to generate lists of patients by diagnosis. Another 55 percent of centers had three or four indicators.  For details on this report visit www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Features/Insuring-Your-Health/Michelle-Andrews-on-Co