Moving Health Care Upstream

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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

[Read more…]

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].

Pediatric Value-Based Care Models

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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.

Nemours Children’s Health System and the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy are pleased to announce the release of a posting on the Health Affairs blog and two joint issue briefs that provide recommendations to accelerate pediatric value-based payment (VBP) and integrated care models that address social drivers and promote health equity. Both briefs, along with an accompanying executive summary, draw from an expert convening made possible with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as well as a two-year Collaborative. Though the recommendations were initially drafted prior to the pandemic, the enormous strain that COVID-19 has placed on families and communities makes the recommendations particularly timely. The disparities that existed at baseline in our health and social service systems for children are intensified as both systems are stretched to their capacity, thereby creating a more urgent need to address the needs of children and families.

“Addressing Social Drivers through Pediatric Value-based Care Models: Emerging Examples and Promising Approaches” offers bright spots that showcase examples of states and communities that are beginning to pursue integrated, value-based pediatric models that address social drivers.

“Addressing Social Drivers through Pediatric Value-based Care Models: Recommendations for Policymakers and Key Stakeholders” builds upon the first brief, highlighting accelerators, barriers, and policy and practice recommendations to promote transformative value-based care for children, including addressing social drivers and promoting health equity.

We encourage you to distribute these resources widely and to share them on social media.

Read this issue briefs here.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact [email protected] or [email protected].

New Issue Brief – Lived Experience: The Practice of Engagement in Policy

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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.

During trying times like these, the need for systems change to improve health and well-being outcomes for young children and their families becomes all the more apparent. Effective approaches to systems change often involve cross-sector collaboration, collective impact, or other integrative approaches in order to realize the real change that will improve and increase access to high-quality services for children and families. These approaches must be informed by the very communities whose lives are impacted by our proposed solutions.

To support states and communities in their endeavors for policy and systems change, Nemours is pleased to announce the release of a new issue brief highlighting the value of lived experience and the importance of integrating community voice into systems change work. The brief shares the promising community engagement practices and approaches of state and community leaders in California, Florida, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Washington and provides recommendations for stakeholders to accelerate this work.

Read the issue brief here.

QUESTIONS?
Please email Georgia Thompson, Nemours Senior Program & Policy Analyst, at [email protected].

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