Moving Health Care Upstream

Take 2: Reflections & Advice from Population Health Network Leaders

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Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

In this video blog post, Nemours Children’s Health System announces the release of a four part series: “Take 2: Reflections & Advice from Population Health Network Leaders”.

To read the series, CLICK HERE. To learn more about Nemours’ overarching body of work related to integrative activities as accelerators for population health networks, CLICK HERE.

We’d love to hear your reflections. Please leave a comment below the post, Tweet us at @MHCUpstream, or email us at [email protected].

 

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Building a Systems Change Initiative Theory of Change

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Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

The  Building a Systems Change Initiative Theory of Change helps to visually organize the focal areas and intended outcomes of systems change initiatives. This version provides annotations to guide users through the process to develop their own Theory of Change for their systems change initiative and includes specific examples using Nemours’ Harnessing Opportunity for Positive, Equitable Early Childhood Development Project (Project HOPE).  Click here for the resource.

This fillable form for the Building a Systems Change Initiative Theory of Change can be downloaded here separately without annotations. This version allows users to enter their systems change initiative focal areas and intended outcomes into a shareable PDF file. The organization completing this theory of change can also place their logo in the bottom right corner of the fillable form. Click here for the fillable form. (Right click to save the fillable form to your computer.)

Building Cross Sector Partnership from the Ground Up: Lessons on Aligning Medicaid and Early Childhood Initiatives

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Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

We are pleased to announce the release of Nemours’ brief, “Building Cross Sector Partnership from the Ground Up: Lessons on Aligning Medicaid and Early Childhood Initiatives.”

The brief highlights lessons learned from Nemours’ work with small groups of leaders from the health care and early childhood sectors in Florida, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. to pilot small-scale projects, or create a practical resource, to address a particular child health need through cross-sector collaboration. The goals were to foster alignment across Medicaid and ECE, uncover barriers to collaboration and identify solutions, and lift up learnings to enable other states to pursue cross-sector upstream prevention initiatives.

This work builds on previous Nemours’ efforts to test approaches to financing upstream prevention and addressing the social determinants of health and was supported by grants from the Alliance for Early Success to the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS), the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions (FAHSC), and DC Action for Children.

The brief explores cross-cutting themes that emerged from this work around:

  • Building an effective cross-sector team
  • Generating support for the initiative across the health and early childhood sectors
  • Strategies for implementing the initiative
Please feel free to contact Janet Viveiros at [email protected] if you would like more information.

The Need for Pediatric Telehealth Policy Progress

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Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

COVID-19 has changed the landscape of health care, both in the short term and likely in the long term as well. Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) has always committed to a patient- and family-centered approach as the bedrock of the high quality care that children and families receive when they come to us. Yet, since the pandemic began, routine and emergent care have been interrupted as we all work together to slow the spread of the virus. At the same time, kids still need health care, and foregoing care can carry significant risk. Fortunately, Nemours had already made significant investments in telehealth capacity and has been providing virtual care for the last five years to supplement our in-person services.

In a recent op-ed published in The Hill, Nemours’ CEO Dr. Larry Moss said, “Telehealth offers a promising way back to health for patients and healthcare systems. As a surgeon, I see more efficient and effective care for patients. As a health system CEO, I see a path back to financial stability that optimizes patient care. As an optimist, I see a transformational opportunity for our health system to make 10 years of progress in 10 weeks.”

To aid in that transformation, Nemours has been participating in multiple efforts to advance telehealth policy change. At this moment, two specific policy opportunities are now on the horizon! In partnership with Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Congressman Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX), we’ve supported the development of the TIKES Act to take steps in this direction. Introduced on October 1, 2020, the bill would:

  • Provide states with guidance and strategies to increase telehealth access for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) populations
  • Require a study examining data and information on the impact of telehealth on the Medicaid population
  • Require a study that reviews coordination among federal agency telehealth policies and examines opportunities for better collaboration, as well as opportunities for telehealth expansion into early care and education settings

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New Data Resource for Early Childhood Systems Change

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Disclaimer: Moving Health Care Upstream is a collaborative effort originally co-led by Nemours Children’s Health System (Nemours) and the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Nemours, UCLA or the Moving Health Care Upstream initiative.

Our nation is currently facing critical issues that amplify the need for policy and systems change, especially those that impact the health and well-being of young children and their families. In order to effectively improve policies and systems, data are essential to identify and address the pervasive issues that affect health and well-being. Data can help to reveal areas that are most in need of reform, while data indicators can help to track progress towards equity.

To support states and communities in their efforts for policy and systems change, Nemours is pleased to announce the release of Selecting Indicators for Early Childhood Systems Change Projects: A Reference Guide. The purpose of this resource is to provide a guidance for groups working toward achieving optimal and equitable health outcomes for young children and their families to identify, select, and track data indicators that can inform and advance their efforts.

The Reference Guide provides concrete examples and the “why and how” of indicator selection, describing the reasons states and communities carrying out systems change projects can use indicators to shape the direction of their project and to describe what they hope to change in both the short-and long-term. The Guide also directs states and communities to where they can find data both for identifying issues and for describing and monitoring change.

Review the Reference Guide here.

Questions? Please email [email protected].

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