{Mark C. Schaefer, PhD director}
Interested in learning more?
Please contact us at
sim@ct.gov to schedule an in-person presentation
about SIM for your
organization.
|
Population Health Council Launches Major Initiative to Create a
Healthier Connecticut Inspired to improve the health and
health equity of Connecticut residents, representatives of health care
consumers, providers and community health organizations, recently joined the
Connecticut Population Health Council and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman to launch
the new Health Enhancement Community (HEC) initiative, a project of the
Connecticut State Innovation Model (SIM), which is now part of the newly
established Office of Health Strategy (OHS).
The HEC initiative aims to empower regions
across the state to use collaborations of diverse community partners to
sustain efforts to prevent disease, improve health and lower costs. OHS hopes this
effort will serve as one of two key strategies for redesigning health and
health care across the state. The other will focus on modernizing primary care
delivery. Stakeholders joining the Population Health Council meeting recognized
the critical need to focus on health improvement and were excited to get
started.
“The way we have been delivering care for the
last hundred years has not been good enough and we have to change that,” said Craig
Glover Chief Executive Officer of
Norwalk Community Health Center.
HEC expands on previous SIM efforts. To
date, SIM has concentrated on improving health care delivery and payment,
particularly in ways that support better care coordination, improved health
equity, and lower costs. The HEC broadens SIM’s focus to strategies that
prevent disease and improve overall health, with a focus on the social
determinants of health. Also, in a HEC model, the service area is based on
geography rather than the patients who see a particular physician or medical
group. HECs will be accountable
for health, health equity, and related costs for all residents living in the
geography. They will be rewarded for preventing disease, improving health and
lowering costs.
“We need more cost-effective care for
sick people, but we also need to dial into the investment opportunity for
keeping people from being sick,” states Mark
Schaefer, Director of
CT SIM.
The state and its partners understand HECs
will require deep and broad collaborations, sometimes across untraditional
partners, and a strong commitment to seeking out and incorporating feedback. It
expects individuals will need support outside of the typical services provided
in a physician office or hospital. It will require all of the organizations
within a community to contribute to health improvement.
{Text Box: Three key highlights from the discussion:
1. Health Enhancement Communities (HEC) will need to build partnerships that reach beyond traditional healthcare.
2. The HEC plan should be logical and actionable, detailing strategies for implementing and sustaining HECs and give clear evidence of their economic benefits.
3. Changing health and health care will require a cultural shift among individuals, organizations, and communities. It will be important to highlight the benefits and minimize the burden.
} Outside the health care system, HECs will
engage diverse community stakeholders including social service organizations, faith
leaders, employers, unions and others. Each of these stakeholders contribute
valuable expertise and experience. And, they bring trusted connections to healthcare
consumers whose perspectives will ensure policy changes align with residents’
needs and priorities. Lt. Gov. Wyman noticed the strong participation
at the Population Health Council HEC meeting and said it’s “exciting to bring
so many different people together to talk about population health within the
context of payment and insurance reforms.”
Content Last Modified on 4/11/2018 12:12:42 PM |
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