Apparently Punxsutawney Phil says winter will be shorter this year!
Introduction
Welcome to my first 2020
newsletter. You can find past newsletters with additional background materials, and different
stories and initiatives in my LinkedIn articles and on my website.
Join me in improving
and coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community
and healthcare redesign.
This month you can read about: Community Care Corps; Lyft’s grocery access program; strengthening Human Services; Medicaid block grants, the public charge rule; the proposed Social Determinants Accelerator Act; DC Senior Housing Summit; ACP position on SDOH; Life experiences and income inequality; RISE SDOH benchmark survey; the impacts of closing Auto plants; Knowality; and recent eHI & WEDI and NASEM events.
Welcome to my 2019 year-end
newsletter and some aspirations for 2020. You can find past newsletters with additional
background materials, and different stories and initiatives in my LinkedIn articles and on my website.
Join me in improving
and coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community
and healthcare redesign.
This month you can read about: Forbes 8 solutions for improved living conditions; West Virginia’s sustained community improvement; Humana’s no senior eats alone; ChristianaCare’s community investment; states finding the right balance between social and health investments, Don Berwick’s thoughts on change from within the healthcare system; and CHIME’s concerns about the no-blocking rule.
Welcome to my November
2019 newsletter. You can find past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website with some additional background materials,
different stories and initiatives that might be of interest. Join me in improving and
coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community and
healthcare redesign.
This month you can
read about: Bernard Tyson; Detroit medical students caring for the homeless; Oversight
for the $1.5B ANC Healthcare trust in NC; alternatives to provider centric
community initiatives such as land trusts, collaborative networks and public
health initiatives; the role of CHCs in disasters and prevention; CMS changes
in Medicaid flexibility and delay in consumer access regulations; hospital
system investments in communities; Aetna/CVS’ loneliness program; US life
expectancy downturn; Neighborhood Atlas and Healthify’s latest investment
round.
Welcome to my
October 2019 newsletter. You can find past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website with some additional background materials,
different stories and initiatives that might be of interest. Join me in improving and
coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community and
healthcare redesign.
This month you can read about: Elijah Cummings; Michael Jordan’s investment in NC clinics; 50th anniversary of a White House Food, Nutrition and Health Conference; A Medicare executive order and open enrollment; More Medicaid programs embracing Lyft; NQF’s call to action; Foundational principals for healthcare initiatives in SDoH; Kaiser’s California food initiative; WellCare analysis of SDoH referrals; physician disagreement about focusing on social injustice; Technologies from, Urban institute; Sales Force, Aunt Bertha in partnership with Innovaccer and Socially Determined; eHI’s webinar about proposed ICD-10 Z code implications for improved living conditions; and, Patchwise Labs the Dispatch.
Welcome to Volume 2
of my Summer 2019 newsletter. You can find past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website with some additional background materials,
different stories and initiatives that might be of interest. Join me in improving and
coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community and
healthcare redesign.
This month you can
read about: caregiving realities; the growing role of home care in improved
living conditions; ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) in
Frederick Maryland, an example of a non-healthcare sustained investment in
improved communities; USDA and USCIS policies threatening living conditions,
providers opposing the USCIS rule while the healthcare industry continues to
invest in needed community support; CAN Community health’s LGBT youth
mentorship program; Intermountain Health, CVS Aetna and Cedar Sinai continue to
expand their efforts; Many studies – one saying few hospitals and physician practices
screen for top 5 social needs, another saying the US spending on social
services is comparable to other countries, parent focus groups raising concerns
about certain pediatric screening questions and AmeriHealth Caritas showing substantial
impact on hospital utilization; A NASEM consensus report recommending 5 goals
for integrating social care into healthcare; AHRQ announcing 12 semifinalists
in an SDOH visualization challenge; and a new BU Community Wellbeing Index.
Welcome to Volume 1
of my Summer 2019 newsletter. You can find past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website with some additional background materials,
different stories and initiatives that might be of interest. Join me in improving and
coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community and
healthcare redesign.
This month you can
read about: Realizing a personal bias; many community transportation
initiatives; an introduction to some of the non-health driven community
investments; a new health literacy definition; Medicaid directors view on where
funding to address social determinants of health should go; Geisinger Food
Farmacy; CareSource Job Connect; AHIP’s Project Link; Modern Healthcare articles
on the SDoH symposium and Insurers and loneliness; Updating the definitions of
ADLs and IADLs; Potential Medicare savings of $4B; United Hospital’s Framework
for building Clinical Community partnerships; AAFP wants more consistency and
clarity around SDoH terminology; Kaiser’s survey indicates patients want
providers to help with social needs; Pilot study on the benefits of home meal
delivery programs; Lifting the funding ban on a unique patient identifier;
Guiding principles for ethical use of SDoH data; and three data partner initiatives.
Welcome to the May 2019
monthly newsletter. You can find past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website with some additional background materials,
different stories and initiatives that might be of interest. Join me in improving and coordinating initiatives that advance
health, health equity and community and healthcare redesign.
This month you can
read about: My recent blog on why asking for help shouldn’t be so hard; Fannie
Mae’s innovation awards for improved housing; several stories about the
substantial impacts of poor living conditions on healthcare in hospitals, FQHCs
and primary care and the breadth of needed changes; More initiatives from Cerner
and Kaiser and Blues plans investing in Solera Networks; a Health Affairs’
article on the need for further research; and many surveys from different vantage
points.
Welcome to the April
2019 monthly newsletter. You can find past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website with some additional background materials,
different stories and initiatives that might be of interest. Join me in improving and coordinating initiatives that advance
health, health equity and community and healthcare redesign.
This month you can
read about: a young man with a cello as a life line from poverty; Humana’s Bold
Goal progress; Medicare Advantage increased flexibility to invest in improved
living conditions; Medicare expanded coverage for telehealth; suggested changes
in hospital community benefits; Texas Health Resources’ investments, and
Medicaid trends in investments, designed to address living condition improvements;
Proposed ICD-10 Z codes to improve payment and tracking of Social Determinants
of Health (SDOH); addressing drivers of community-wide problems verses
addressing the needs of sicker individuals; almost 50% of cancer deaths tied to
modifiable behavior that are impacted by living conditions; and the challenges facing the “middle market” i.e.,
older adults with middle level income. Also
checkout Equality Health’s Webinar about culturally-based innovations in
Arizona.
Welcome to the March
2019 monthly newsletter. You can find past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website with some additional background materials, different
stories and initiatives that might be of interest. Join me in improving and coordinating initiatives that advance
health, health equity and community and healthcare redesign.
This month you can
read about:
Living on $3 a day; The Healthiest U.S. Communities, Legal support at a public health clinic and Anthem Indiana Medicaid; The NSTC report on emerging technologies for an aging population; Oregon Medicaid’s approach to contracting for improvements in living conditions; the AZ Medicaid Innovation Challenge featuring many lead organizations in member engagement and technology and services support for improved living conditions; Molina Healthcare’s 90-day free Amazon prime accounts; PQA’s Conceptual framework on medication access; Several technology based partnerships — Kaiser and Community Solutions, BCBSI and Solera Health and Signify’s acquisition of TAVHealth; Research efforts from Tufts and Pew Charitable trust; and Femtech investments in unique health needs and living conditions of women.
Shannah’s Insights
Momentum of the health industries investment in living condition improvements continues, particularly in Medicaid and across large insurer and delivery systems. Are we using the right metrics? If we measure solely on health impacts, we may be missing an opportunity for true change. If Oregon is successful, could we ultimately invest more in community support that in healthcare? Who will AZ choose as their partners for member engagement and improved living conditions. When looking at outcomes should we be looking across safety net programs and at quality of life?
Welcome to my
February 2019 monthly newsletter. This marks the beginning of my second year
sharing an overview of what is happening at the intersection of health care and
living conditions also known as social determinants of health. You can find
past newsletters in my LinkedIn articles and on my website. They have some additional background
materials with different stories and initiatives that might be of interest. My
goal for the newsletter is to inform improved
and coordinated initiatives that advance health, health equity and community
and healthcare redesign.
This month you can
read about: Funerals spurring some thoughts on living conditions; health
screening and education in barber shops and salons; SIPPRA a Treasury program
funding state and local government investment in social impacts; CMS’s efforts
to minimize financial impacts; North Carolina’s move to managed care; initiatives
from Lyft, Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute, HealthBegins and AHA’s Physician
Alliance; and, the breadth of sessions and announcements a HIMSS annual
conference.
