Annual Report of Activities

2001

A look back at the Connecticut Health Policy Project and its activities through its second anniversary.

Organizational Accomplishments:

• Redesigned logo, brochures and organizational materials
• Provided fiduciary and technical assistance to SHOUT-Yale student organization providing comprehensive HUSKY outreach services to New Haven's neighborhoods
• Created a Project website
  o Gets approximately 1000 sessions per month, over 7000 hits
  o Attracts visitors from across the US (especially DC) and international (e.g. 48 sessions from Croatia in December)
  o Popular quiz, changes monthly
  o Success stories, book club popular
  o Consumer info page, reasons for consumers to engage in advocacy
  o Engaged the services of a talented web designer
• Stabilized CT Health Notes listserv
  o Steadily increasing subscriptions
  o Positive feedback, zero unsubscribes
  o Searchable archive
• Linkage with Yale School of Nursing
  o Student projects
  o Teaching

Program Accomplishments:

• Successful conference on alternatives to Medicaid Managed Care, specifically Primary Care Case Management (PCCM)
  o Attracted CT providers, policymakers, consumers, academics, advocates and other stakeholders
  o Brought in national experts and representatives from states with successful PCCM programs
  o Attracted federal government involvement and funding
  o Incorporated student project - survey of states using Primary Care Case Management with questions generated by Connecticut policymakers, providers and other stakeholders
• Needs assessment for Putnam, CT
  o Convened community group of Putnam health leaders to guide project
  o Included standard disease incidence, within context of local focus groups and surveys
  o Mailing to all households
  o Plans for creation of community center providing health services
o Successful HUSKY outreach activities
o Creation of permanent health planning structure
• Published an OP-ED in the Hartford Courant about the problems facing uninsured HUSKY parents
• For policymakers:
  o Papers on various topics including EPSDT, HUSKY, PCCM, and premium assistance programs
  o Cost analyses on SAGA and PCCM, HUSKY parents
  o Convened roundtable to explore barriers and solutions to improve Chlamydia testing in Connecticut
  o Comments to DSS on PCCM report, picked up by other organizations
• Assistance to CT Primary Care Association in planning for PCCM for SAGA
  o Drafted comprehensive plan
  o Engaged national expert for working session with health center directors
• Assistance to CHART Foundation - drafted needs assessment and foundation options for state uninsured
• Assistance to Oral Health 2010 - community collaboration dedicated to improving access to dental health in Connecticut
  o Conducted survey of Hartford dental providers about HUSKY
  o Research and drafting planning documents
• Assistance to the Alliance for a Healthy CT - to link issues of tobacco and unmet health care needs, specifically the uninsured
• MOST IMPORTANT - provided assistance to uninsured and underinsured CT families seeking health care coverage

Lessons learned:

• Patience - things take time, both within the organization and in the larger health care context
• The power of information, broadly disseminated - The best policies are made when everyone involved is fully informed, together.
• The power of consumers to drive health care - Informed consumers are the only hope to improve health care in Connecticut. Consumers are very motivated; with the right tools and supports, they can accomplish anything.
• Creating relationships, trust - Without credibility, no information will be read, trusted or acted on.
• Get help - No one does anything alone.
• Often the most productive role is providing assistance from the background - Nurture the good ideas of others with similar missions, e.g. Oral Health 2010, SHOUT, community leaders in Putnam. Share our skills and resources with others.

Future Goals:

• Improve consumer outreach, education and support
• Advocacy training, support for consumers
• Facilitate effective communication between consumers and policymakers
• Continue informing policymakers (whether they like it or not)
• Reassess needs for information
• Respond to requests
• Don't just identify problems. Provide realistic, affordable policy options and solutions.
• Monitor health policy and economic changes
• Outreach to federal policymakers
• Expand on-line and other communications capacities
• Expand ability to respond to research needs
• Provide productive student research experiences, build health care leadership for Connecticut
• Outreach to others conducting health policy research in Connecticut