Friends,

As you'll see in the updates below, the official start of summer offers few signs that the pace will slow as temperatures rise. Thanks to all our partners for their commitment to making good things happen, however busy they keep us.

A MESSAGE TO BETTER HEALTH PARTNERS FROM KP OHIO

We are pleased to share the news that Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Ohio (KFHPO) and Ohio Permanente Medical Group (OPMG) have reached initial agreements for Catholic Health Partners (CHP) to acquire Kaiser Permanente's existing health plan and to continue medical group practice and care delivery operations in Northeast Ohio.

Upon finalizing the agreements, the newly named organization would comprise the health care staff, physicians, operations, and administrative personnel who are currently part of OPMG and KFHPO, and would continue to operate the existing medical offices in Northeast Ohio.

This move is an exciting new chapter for us, and we look forward to the opportunities it brings. What will not change, however, is our commitment to high quality, affordable health care. Our focus on population health, prevention, care coordination, and IT-enabled teamwork remains strong.

Importantly, we will continue our work with Better Health Greater Cleveland as it relates to submitting quality data for public reporting, participation in leadership of the organization, and contributing to and benefiting from the Learning Collaborative Summits and other valuable Better Health activities. Our work with you will continue, albeit under a different name.

We look forward to continued partnership with you to serve Better Health's mission.

Nabil Chehade, MD
President and Executive Medical Director

Ron Adams, MD
Senior Physician Director of Quality

Kaiser Permanente Ohio

Two-year grant builds on progress in improving the quality
and cost of health care

Better Health is among 16 communities to have won a fourth and final grant in the foundation's national Aligning Forces for Quality initiative, in which it has participated since 2007.

The Aligning Forces for Quality program was launched in 2006 to lead region-wide improvement in health care quality for greater value. In the latest AF4Q grant that began May 1, Better Health is working to leverage its progress and expand its contributions to building a better health care system through greater transparency and patient-centered, coordinated care that delivers better care at lower cost.

Many thanks to RWJF for its investment in northeast Ohio!

Thursday, June 20, 2013
8:30 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Hurry, registration closes June 5th

We've teamed up with Cuyahoga Community College for a free one-day conference that will feature Better Health's 11th Community Health Checkup: Shortening the Path to High-Value, Patient-Centered Care.

This not-to-miss event, Readying the Healthcare Workforce for Transformation, will be the first meeting at the new Global Center for Health Innovation -- aka the new Med Mart. An application for CME credit is pending. The day also includes: 

• Keynote Speaker Dan Heath, co-author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, Made to Stick and the new bestseller, Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work.
   
• Greg Moody, Director of the Ohio Governor's Office of Health Transformation
   
• Danny Sands, MD, co-founder of Society for Participatory Medicine
   
• . . .And more.

For more information, go here.
To register, go here. 

 

We look forward to seeing you there!

We are delighted to announce that Better Health's Board of Directors recently elected Vanessa J. Evans to the board.

Vanessa is a former executive for Johnson & Johnson, where she assumed successively greater responsibility over more than 30 years, most recently as Vice President of Global Customer Development. She recently returned from New Jersey to her roots in northeast Ohio, where she operates a consulting firm, Shaker Sales & Process Group, LLC, whose clients include Fortune 100 global companies, universities and nonprofits.

Welcome, Vanessa! 

The MetroHealth System's Alice Petrulis, MD, and Buckeye Community Health Plan's Bernadette Yohe, RN, are among the presenters in a half-day session of the National Medicaid Congress meeting on May 29 that focuses on the six Aligning Forces for Quality communities that are piloting approaches to improve outcomes and lower costs for patients who are high users of hospital services - a small but costly segment of the patient population. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Better Health launched its Red Carpet Care program in late 2012 to address the challenge in northeast Ohio.

The multi-payer Red Carpet Care program established two "Super Utilizer" clinics, which are led by dedicated nurse practitioners who work within two Patient Centered Medical Home-recognized practices of MetroHealth.  Seventy-five "super-utilizers" from each of two insurer partners - Buckeye and Medical Mutual of Ohio - were invited to enroll. Participating patients have direct telephone access to the nurses, who proactively coordinate and provide care - and sometimes do home visits. The nurses work closely with health plan and community partners to pool resources and avoid duplication. The Camden Coalition and founder/director Jeff Brenner, MD, provide technical assistance.

Northeast Ohio was well represented at the bi-annual national meeting of Aligning Forces for Quality in downtown Chicago. The theme of the meeting was "Partnering for Sustainability," making us especially proud of some of our partners who were invited to present at the meeting. Denise San Antonio Zeman, President and CEO of Saint Luke's Foundation of Cleveland, was one of three on a panel about partnering with grantmakers. And Kay Colby, Health Producer at ideastream, was one of three participants on a panel moderated by Camden Coalition's Jeff Brenner to provide insights and practical tips on working with the media. Saint Luke's has been a funding partner of Better Health since 2010, and ideastream is a community partner in our Choosing Wisely program. Also attending were Anita Cook, Executive Director of West Side Catholic Center, a community partner in Red Carpet Care, and Donald Ford, MD, Vice President of Regional Operations at Cleveland Clinic's Hillcrest Hospital, who recently became co-chair of our Clinical Advisory Committee; and Patty Starr, Executive Director of Health Action Council Ohio.

A survey and two statewide meetings of the broad-based External Advisory Committee have helped to whittle down the 130-plus Choosing Wisely recommendations to fewer than 10 that might be endorsed in the northeast Ohio-led initiative. A Steering Committee has been formed and holds its first meeting this week to further consider the topic list and begin planning tactics for dissemination strategies.

Also, we have our own page on the ABIM Foundation's Choosing Wisely website.
Check it out at: http://www.choosingwisely.org/grantees/better-health-greater-cleveland.

Thomas E. Love, PhD, Director of Better Health's Data Center, is among 59 members to be honored as a 2013 fellow by the American Statistical Association, the preeminent professional statistical society. The ASA recognized Tom for "exemplary service and significant leadership in the statistical community, for notable contributions to statistical education, and for extensive collaborative efforts in clinical and health services research."

Tom is a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Director of the Biostatistics and Evaluation Unit at the Center for Health Care Research & Policy of Case Western Reserve University at MetroHealth Medical Center.

Please join us in congratulating Tom on this well deserved honor!

ARE YOU A MEMBER YET?