Medical and Dental Care

top-view-of-resident-videocall-sitting-on-desk

January 19 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 5 – Generating Public Awareness

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 5

Generating Public Awareness

EYE ON RESULTS

The projects presented in the ten innovations areas are all designed to address barriers to vital services. Action teams should review all projects and prioritize those that have the best chance of addressing the barriers identified in the 100% New Mexico countywide survey. Your collaborative and result-focused local work is nothing less than heroic.

6 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “create the Medical and Dental Care@100% user-friendly website” project

The “be patient and focused” project

The “email Medical and Dental Care@100% often” project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.5.1

Project 1: The “create The Medical And Dental Care@100% User-friendly Website” Project

This is where you design and launch your own family-friendly website for the public to access vital information on medical and dental care. As mentioned earlier, websites don’t just pop up easily, but there are free services online to help with design.

Deliverables:

Research health agency and clinic websites across your county and state. You might even find great ideas across the nation and globe. Present your findings on user-friendliness of existing local accessible health care agency websites to the 100% New Mexico team. After feedback, network with local health care folks (and web designers and graphic designers) to explore creating a user-friendly website that houses easy-to-understand information on local and accessible medical and dental care. You can also include information on your Medical and Dental Care@100% action team and how you are working to improve local access to care. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 5 – Generating Public Awareness

Project: Medical and Dental Care.5.2

Project 2: The “be patient and focused” project

Even completing a few of these projects will put you among the best educated one percent when it comes to accessible medical and dental care in your area, and one way you could put that know-how to good use is by serving on an advisory board or commission. Many, but not all, school, city, county and higher ed organizations have them. There are often more generic school task forces or advisory panels out there as well, and they are usually hurting for members. This is your opportunity to ensure that affordable and accessible care arguments are heard, progress is made, and that the alignment of accessible care services becomes a reality.

Deliverables:

Attend at least a quarter’s worth of meetings, then present to the 100% New Mexico team your analysis of current committee/task force working groups — including how data-driven and result-focused they appear to be. The goal is always alignment with current efforts and mutual support. (Suggested time frame: 4 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.5.3

Project 3: The “email Medical And Dental Care@100% Often” Project

Email and social marketing are good tools for outreach. Social marketing strategies, just like website development, can be challenging. Yet there are “how to” websites that can help facilitate this process. You should work to reach all stakeholders who have the concerns of families (and all residents) on their radar. You can send updates on all the work of your action teams to raise awareness and garner support.

Populations to target:

Youth-serving groups
Family-serving groups
Faith-based groups
Cultural groups
Elected officials
Department of Health
Children’s Medical Services
School-based health care providers
Local providers and agencies providing medical/dental care
Hospital staff
Child welfare

Deliverables:

Identify the most tech-savvy in your network, then create a countywide list of stakeholders to email. Create a rough message and graphic identity for your messaging. Test it out with the 100% New Mexico team and health care providers, tweak, and off you go. If you used a mailing service that can track your email’s performance, check open rates after three months to assess responses. If you simply emailed your network directly, gauge how many of the messages received a reply or initiated action. (Suggested time frame: 4 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

January 19 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 10 – Developing the City Dept of Medical and Dental Care

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 10

Developing the City Dept of Medical and Dental Care

EYE ON RESULTS

8 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “county/city Partnership That Funds The Department Of Accessible Medical And Dental Health Care” Project

The “convene Your Fellow Medical And Dental Care Advocates And Enhance Your Skills In Public Speaking, Committee Briefing, And How To Get To A Lawmaker” Project

The “know Your Stuff Before You Meet The Mayor” Project

The “create A Bold Vision And Strategic Plan” Project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.10.1

Project 1: The “county/city Partnership That Funds The Department Of Accessible Medical And Dental Health Care” Project

Elevator pitch: When Eric was a toddler, his mom should have been able to scan city hall’s website to find all sorts of accessible medical and dental care programs for her kids and herself. She should have been able to see a clearly defined menu item called “Department of Easy-to-Access and Family-Friendly Medical and Dental Care” right next to the Departments of Police, Fire and Parks. It should not be buried deep in the bowels of the website. It’s a vital, stand-alone department (or should be) and deserves to be treated as such.

Why is this so important? After all, various local community clinics and care programs are often funded in part by county entities, city entities, foundations, nonprofit organizations or multi-county coalitions. In less-populated areas, nonprofits or hospitals become the hub for all medical and dental care.

This proposed department doesn’t take over health care, instead it regularly evaluates the medical and dental needs of its constituents, determines if they are adequate and regularly researches innovations. This job will look very different depending on the town — it may just take a part-time city manager a few hours per year in the smallest of hamlets. But it’s important work, and it needs to be done by someone who reports to an individual who regularly stands for election.

Potential partners: mayors, city councilors, county commissioners, advocates for care, public health departments, health care providers and researchers, and socially-engaged businesses.

Deliverables:

Create and execute a plan to connect to all city and county representatives necessary to get this new department established. (Rough time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 10 – Developing the City Dept of Medical and Dental Care

Project: Medical and Dental Care.10.2

Project 2: The “convene Your Fellow Medical And Dental Care Advocates And Enhance Your Skills In Public Speaking, Committee Briefing, And How To Get To A Lawmaker” Project

This project is a crash course that you develop with local experts about how to contact local and state leaders, give an elevator pitch on your projects, and the protocol for committee hearings that can lead to funding.

Deliverables:

Find an accomplished colleague with good public speaking skills along with a professional with experience lobbying/networking with elected leaders. Together, discuss how a workshop for the entire 100% New Mexico team could be created to enhance skills. Assess interest with teams, make a workshop plan, deliver and evaluate. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.10.3

Project 3: The “know Your Stuff Before You Meet The Mayor” Project

Innovation #10, in some ways, is putting it all together. By this we mean that, by the time your action team becomes familiar with all ten innovation areas and their projects, you will be prepared to meet with elected officials and stakeholders to discuss support of accessible medical and dental care for all.

Deliverables:

Identify at least one colleague to join you in reviewing every innovation project in this chapter. This means diving into all the research that you can get your hands on, starting with our links to support your project. Conduct an assessment of all 100% New Mexico team members to identify which projects are of interest and in development. From here, present your global overview of project development with the entire 100% New Mexico team for feedback. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.10.4

Project 4: The “create A Bold Vision And Strategic Plan” Project

It’s time to create a detailed plan for this new (or improved) local Department of Accessible Medical and Dental Care. With previous projects, you will have learned its strengths and weaknesses, potential funding sources, and who the players are. You’ll be in a great position to document what’s great, what needs to be kept as it is or expanded, and what needs to change.

Deliverables:

After an assessment of medical services (see Innovation #1) and a survey of all 100% New Mexico team members to identify which projects are of interest and in development, develop a draft outline of a strategic plan for a Department of Medical and Dental Care. From here, present the draft plan to the entire 100% New Mexico team for feedback. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

January 19 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 9 – Strengthening Local Services

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 9

Strengthening Local Services

EYE ON RESULTS

6 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “research Potential Resources” Project

The “usda Rural Development (Rd) Initiative Grant Possibility” Project

The “we Need A State Coalition To Make Great Things Happen” Project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.9.1

Project 1: The “research Potential Resources” Project

Here you can explore the Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), the Public Health Services Act and The Rural Health Care Initiative Hub.

Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr): https://aae.how/148
The Public Health Services Act, Section 330: https://aae.how/149
The Rural Health care Initiative hub: https://aae.how/150

Deliverables:

Research what you can discover online and add some informational interviews with folks engaged in the work. Compile your insights, and hopefully some evaluation data, then share with the 100% New Mexico team. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 9 – Strengthening Local Services

Project: Medical and Dental Care.9.2

Project 2: The “usda Rural Development (Rd) Initiative Grant Possibility” Project

USDA offers loans, grants and loan guarantees to help create jobs and support economic development and essential services such as: housing, health care, first responder services and equipment, and water, electric and communications infrastructure. They promote economic development by supporting loans to businesses through banks, credit unions and community-managed lending pools. They offer technical assistance and information to help agricultural producers and cooperatives get started and improve the effectiveness of their operations. They, according to their PR, provide technical assistance to help communities undertake community empowerment programs, helping rural residents buy or rent safe, affordable housing and make health and safety repairs to their homes.

USDA Rural Development (RD) Initiative grant: https://aae.how/151

Deliverables:

Research what you can discover online and add to that some informational interviews with folks engaged in the work. Compile your insights and hopefully some evaluation data, and share with the 100% New Mexico team. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.9.3

Project 3:The “we Need A State Coalition To Make Great Things Happen” Project

Through collaboration of the players and the strategic use of data and technology, we can find a way to ensure that no child or parents lacks access to timely medical and dental care. We are not trying to simplify our nation and states’ most complex challenges in a sentence. We are advocating for the start of a long-term, local dialogue about how we end health disparities. This is a conversation that’s been going on for decades involving the public and private sector. This particular project is about joining or creating a countywide and statewide network of health advocates and providers who believe that care is not a luxury, it’s what civilized governments ensure. A coalition will allow you to have a strong voice in your community as well as your city, county and state government. You may find that local lawmakers, while sympathetic to this issue, do not see addressing health disparities as the role of county or city government. For this reason, coalitions matter and they can be a force for awareness.

Your county and state network can educate local lawmakers about a new role for government: ensuring that no child, student or parent is marginalized because they can’t afford care. The coalition can work to elect officials who will prioritize care access for all, utilizing technology to connect everyone in the network with a shared vision, goals, activities, data use, communication and messaging, and an evaluation process. Your action teams start with identifying who is in the lead with health care reform. Given that the goal of ending health disparities has been bubbling up for decades, odds are good your state has heroic people working on this as a coalition. Find them.

Deliverables:

Find some passionate change agents and conduct informational interviews with sector stakeholders to assess interest in a county or state coalition. Assess the data-driven and result-focused quality of current coalitions. Create a one-pager to present to your 100% New Mexico team and countywide network of health care agencies on your initial findings. We don’t wish to reinvent wheels here, so if you have result-focused coalitions, it’s time to join them. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

January 19 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 8 – Supporting Cities and Counties

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 8

Supporting Cities and Counties

EYE ON RESULTS

8 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “addressing shortages of providers” project

The “care For U” Project

The “project Echo And Telemedicine For Health Care Provider Mentoring” Project

The “investing In The Research That Focused On Increasing Access To Care” Project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.8.1

Project 1: The “addressing shortages of providers” project

to offer a variety of programs, each with their own requirements and benefits. ORH works with health care providers to find incentive programs that will help them take their skills where they’re most needed. ORH also works with Oregon practice sites

to identify incentive programs that can assist with their recruitment and retention efforts. You also will benefit from reviewing the University of New Mexico (UNM) programs and program of National Health Service Corps.

UNM Family Medicine incentive: https://aae.how/123
Office of Rural Health (ORH) partners with the Oregon Health Authority: https://aae.how/124
National Health Service Corps Rural Community Loan Repayment Program: https://aae.how/125

Deliverables:

Research what you can discover online and add to that some informational interviews with folks engaged in the work. Compile your insights, and hopefully some evaluation data, then share with the 100% New Mexico team. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 8 – Supporting Cities and Counties

Project: Medical and Dental Care.8.2

Project 2: The “care For U” Project

Learn how a small university in rural New Mexico rises to meet the needs of its student body. Eastern New Mexico University’s ENMU Health Services offers preventive and acute health services, similar to your family health care clinic, at little or no cost to students with a current ENMU student ID. In addition to flu shots, blood tests, prescriptions and other medical services, they make health awareness presentations to student groups. They also provide family planning services, pap smears, STI (sexually transmitted infections) screening and treatment, and contraception products. As with any medical clinic, they guarantee complete confidentiality for patients.

Eastern New Mexico University Health Services: https://aae.how/126

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.8.3

Project 3: The “project Echo And Telemedicine For Health Care Provider Mentoring” Project

Project ECHO uses ongoing telementoring to equip primary care practitioners in rural areas with the knowledge they need to provide high-quality specialty care. Created by Sanjeev Arora, MD, a social entrepreneur and liver disease specialist at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, Project ECHO is a nationally — and globally — recognized model for bringing best-practice health care to patients who can’t get it because of where they live. Project ECHO uses a hub-and-spoke telementoring model to move knowledge instead of people. By participating in virtual clinics with teams of specialist mentors, primary care practitioners in rural and underserved areas acquire the expertise they need to treat patients with complex health problems, including Hepatitis C, HIV, chronic pain, opioid addiction, mental illness, diabetes and cancer. Practitioners who attend ECHO report that participation in a virtual community of practice helps reduce their sense of isolation. They often identify neighboring clinicians who can provide them consultation and referral resources.

Project ECHO: https://aae.how/127
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Project ECHO: https://aae.how/128

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.8.4

Project 4: The “Investing In The Research That Focused On Increasing Access To Care” Project

This project can enlighten your county stakeholders and inspire innovations to increase access to care services.

Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP): https://aae.how/139
Rural Health Information: https://aae.how/140
Reach minority populations in the US with Promotoras: https://aae.how/141
La Casa Health: https://aae.how/142
Pennsylvania Rural Health Model: https://aae.how/143
Maine Community Care Partnership: https://aae.how/144
Mobile Medical Clinics: https://aae.how/145
Calhoun County, MI rural health initiative: https://aae.how/146
The “Minnesota Northern Dental Access Center Patient Support and Outreach Program” project: https://aae.how/147

Deliverables:

Research as much as you can with what you can discover online and add to that some informational interviews with folks engaged in the work. Compile your insights, and hopefully some evaluation data, then share with the 100% New Mexico team. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

January 14 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 7 – Engaging Higher Education

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 7

Engaging Higher Education

EYE ON RESULTS

8 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “addressing shortages of providers” project

The “Care for U” project

The “Project ECHO and telemedicine for health care provider mentoring” project

The “integrate ACEs data and Resilient Community Survey into primary care” project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.7.1

Project 1: The “addressing shortages of providers” project

Learn how Oregon is using incentive programs to address provider shortages and to reach their underserved areas in need of quality medical care. Provider incentive programs aid in supporting underserved communities in their recruitment and retention of high quality providers. The Office of Rural Health (ORH) partners with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Health Resources Service Administration (HRSA) to offer a variety of programs, each with their own requirements and benefits. ORH works with health care providers to find incentive programs that will help them take their skills where they’re most needed. ORH also works with Oregon practice sites to identify incentive programs that can assist with their recruitment and retention efforts. You also will benefit from reviewing the University of New Mexico (UNM) programs and program of National Health Service Corps.

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 7 – Engaging Higher Education

Project: Medical and Dental Care.7.2

Project 2: The “Care for U” project

Eastern New Mexico University Health Services: https://aae.how/126

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.7.3

Project 3: The “Project ECHO and telemedicine for health care provider mentoring” project

Project ECHO uses ongoing telementoring to equip primary care practitioners in rural areas with the knowledge they need to provide high-quality specialty care. Created by Sanjeev Arora, MD, a social entrepreneur and liver disease specialist at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, Project ECHO is a nationally — and globally — recognized model for bringing best-practice health care to patients who can’t get it because of where they live. Project ECHO uses a hub-and-spoke telementoring model to move knowledge instead of people. By participating in virtual clinics with teams of specialist mentors, primary care practitioners in rural and underserved areas acquire the expertise they need to treat patients with complex health problems — including Hepatitis C, HIV, chronic pain, opioid addiction, mental illness, diabetes and cancer. Practitioners who attend ECHO report that participation in a virtual community of practice helps reduce their sense of isolation. They often identify neighboring clinicians who can provide them consultation and referral resources.

Project ECHO: https://aae.how/127
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Project ECHO: https://aae.how/128

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.7.4

Project 4: The “integrate ACEs data and Resilient Community Survey into primary care” project

Before you see a doctor, you must first complete numerous forms detailing any surgeries you’ve had, which medications you’re allergic to, whether you use drugs, how often you drink, whether you feel safe at home and other factoids that medical professionals find extremely useful. This all makes sense, but there’s something missing: data on ACEs scores and information from the Resilient Community Survey. So your mission is to persuade a doctor, or group of doctors, to add those surveys to their intake process — preferably under the auspices of the university project which would then also research how knowing such things would change how medical care is administered.

National Institutes of Health: https://aae.how/129
Health providers assessing and treating food and housing problems: https://aae.how/130

Deliverables:

Meet with colleagues at a university or community clinic to engage them in using the ACEs Survey and Resilient Community Experience Survey as a screening tool for clients. Compile the health care providers’ insights on this type of screening, and hopefully some evaluation data, then share with the 100% New Mexico team. (Time frame: 1–3 years)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

two-hispanic-children-using-laptop-at-home

January 14 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 6 – Connecting the Education System

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 6

Connecting the Education System

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “Time to Research How School-Based Care Is Being Delivered” Project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.6.1

Project 1: The “Time to Research How School-Based Care Is Being Delivered” Project

This project focused on digging deep into the world of school-based health centers (SBHC) and other ways to provide easily accessible, culturally and developmentally appropriate health care services in schools. You will want to explore innovations in Boston Schools, New London, CT, Seattle and more places experimenting with rolling dental offices and solutions for rural communities.

Boston Schools Health Care: https://aae.how/62
New London, CT Health Care: https://aae.how/63
International Community Health Services (ICHS) Seattle, WA: https://aae.how/64
Grow Up Smiling (GuS) Dental Care: https://aae.how/65
Rodney B. Cox Elementary school dental care: https://aae.how/66
Big Smiles-Pairing Schools with Dentists: https://aae.how/67
Dental office brought to you in Portland: https://aae.how/68
School-based Nurse Practitioners-Rural Health Info: https://aae.how/69
Scott County, Minnesota Health Care on Wheels: https://aae.how/70

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 6 – Connecting the Education System

LET'S INNOVATE

January 14 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 5 – Generating Public Awareness

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 5

Generating Public Awareness

EYE ON RESULTS

6 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “Create the Medical and Dental Care@100% User-Friendly Website” Project

The “be patient and focused” project

The “email Medical and Dental Care@100% often” project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.5.1

Project 1: The “create the Medical and Dental Care@100% user-friendly website” project

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.5.2

Project 2: The “be patient and focused” project

Even completing a few of these projects will put you among the best educated one percent when it comes to accessible medical and dental care in your area, and one way you could put that know-how to good use is by serving on an advisory board or commission. Many — but not all — school, city, county and higher ed organizations have them. There are often more generic school task forces or advisory panels out there as well, and they are usually hurting for members. This is your opportunity to ensure that affordable and accessible care arguments are heard, progress is made, and that the alignment of accessible care services becomes a reality.

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Medical and Dental Care.5.3

Project 3: The “email Medical and Dental Care@100% often” project

Populations to target:

Youth-serving groups
Family-serving groups
Faith-based groups
Cultural groups
Elected officials
Department of Health
Children’s Medical Services
School-based health care providers
Local providers and agencies providing medical/dental care
Hospital staff
Child welfare

Deliverables:

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

close-up-of-businesswomen-using-mobile-phones-in-modern-office

January 14 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 4 – Harnessing Technology

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 4

Harnessing Technology

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “plain language for existing websites” project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.4.1

Project 1: The “plain language for existing websites” project

In some city, county and school systems, thoughtful professionals spend a great deal of time and effort trying to design perfect websites with intuitive listings of medical and dental care services offerings, easy-to-read maps to get you to such services and other features to facilitate how to sign up for care and prevention programs. Your mission is to figure out whether your public agencies — including your city government, county government and school district websites are taking this opportunity to simply and efficiently explain what forms of medical and dental care are offered locally on their websites, on printed brochures and schedules, or (bonus points) on an app.

Deliverables:

Begin researching (yes, in a big city this is a large project) all private and public health care agency and local government websites to identify what types of services are currently available. Note how clearly fees and accessibility are presented. Present your findings to the 100% New Mexico team and local stakeholders in health care. After feedback, network with local health care folks, web designers and graphic designers to explore creating mock-ups of user-friendly improvements to existing websites. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 4 – Harnessing Technology

LET'S INNOVATE

apprentice-building-furniture-in-carpentry

January 14 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 3 – Engaging the Private Sector

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 3

Engaging the Private Sector

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “learn all about the patient portals” project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.3.1

Project 1: The “Learn all about the patient portals” project

Patient portals provide opportunities for patients to communicate directly with their provider. Learn how a rural community in New Mexico has developed their clinic and hospital experience with the use of a patient portal. All documents are completed through a secure application accessed on a mobile device or desktop computer. Clients check in, communicate with their provider, schedule appointments and can receive test results back through their patient portal app.

Roosevelt General Hospital-Patient Portal: https://aae.how/121
What is a patient portal?: https://aae.how/122

Deliverables:

You will need to research the work currently being done and review its evaluation (if patient satisfaction data are collected and available). Share a one-page overview with the 100% New Mexico team and other medical and dental care advocates.

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 3 – Engaging the Private Sector

LET'S INNOVATE

teenager-girl-shows-an-adult-mexican-woman-her-cell-phone-in-slow-motion

January 14 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 2 – Ensuring Full Support

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 2

Ensuring Full Support

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “who’s working on accessible health care?” project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.2.1

Project 1: The “who’s working on accessible health care?” project

While state lawmakers work to fund various forms of health care supports, often local communities are home to various programs and activist groups that also work on the issue. Maybe it’s a nonprofit that operates a free clinic, or a private charity that helps out with children’s dental emergencies, or a group that lobbies for school-based or universal health care. Your mission here is to make an inventory of those organizations and figure out what they’re doing and who the champions are. Do your assessment of all current medical and dental care programs to know the quality and quantity of affordable services.

Deliverables:

Create a short summary of financial support needs for those health care programs that are serving our most vulnerable populations and present to the entire 100% New Mexico team and stakeholders. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 2 – Ensuring Full Support

LET'S INNOVATE

January 13 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100%

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Center for

Medical and Dental Care@100%

Medical and Dental Care@100% means all children and families can easily access care.

Ensuring health care security for 100% of county residents. The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team identifies challenges, researches solutions and supports organizations in improving services. The long-term goal is creating a countywide system of health care security programs with collaboration and coordination with all city government, county government and non-governmental organizations within the county’s borders.

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team collects and analyzes data then identifies gaps in health care services. The 100% Community survey data, including informational interviews with residents of all communities within the county’s borders, reveal which populations and communities lack easy access to health care services. The survey also reveals why services may be difficult to access. Difficulties may include a lack of awareness of programs, lack of transport to programs, lack of easy-to-access hours or no easy-to-access services.

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team focuses on identifying which organizations currently need capacity-building in order to meet the need. The team identifies partnerships to improve services. This can be done through a process of continuous quality improvement (the data-driven “assess-plan-act-evaluate” process).

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team focuses on identifying which private sector businesses can help address health care insecurity throughout the county. The team works to create partnerships between businesses and healthcare systems and programs.

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team focuses on identifying how to use technology, including websites and apps, to increase awareness of health care insecurity, increase resources to provide care, and increase alignment of services across all cities and communities within the county’s borders. The team also works to address the digital divide to increase access for all county residents to mobile devices and the Internet through community access points.

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team focuses on reaching all county residents in order to mobilize community teams to address health care insecurity. The team works to engage all county residents who have free time (retirees, college students, etc.) to support health care security efforts. The team also works to create opportunities for all county residents to share their ideas for problem solving.

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team focuses on identifying the capacity of city and county government to strengthen their current health care security efforts and expand them to meet the need. This includes a special focus on meeting the needs of the county’s most vulnerable residents. Teams will recommend to local government the most up-to-date methods and software to accurately track program effectiveness.

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team focuses on identifying which programs the federal and state government offer to support countywide health care security. This process includes networking, advocating and grant writing.

The 100% New Mexico medical/dental care action team focuses on the long-term goal of creating a county-city “Department of Care” to focus on health care security challenges. This includes surveying residents on their access to care, their need for the programs and why they might be difficult to access. This proposed department could also support ongoing research in health security programs and support local efforts to ensure timely health care and security across the county.

EYE ON INNOVATION

Inside The Center

9 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

What Families Face

Short stories from families facing challenges, illustrating the need to address barriers to vital services.

10 Innovations Await

The sidebar menu takes you to ten innovations areas, each one providing projects action team members are implementing to remove barriers to services.

The Root Causes

We provide an overview of why families struggle to access vital services in what we might call “normal times” and in times of public health or economic crisis.

A Pandemic’s Impact on services

A brief review of how the pandemic impacts each county across the state.

Where on Earth

How solutions exist today.

The Center’s Mission

Health Care for 100%

Welcome to the Center for Medical and Dental Care@100%, the nation’s first center to provide county and city stakeholders with research, data-driven strategies, insights and support to end health disparities on a countywide scale, ensuring all resident’s medical and dental care needs are met. Health disparities, lack of timely access to quality care, has been with us for as long as we have been using the science of medicine on the planet. In the last few decades societies of all sizes have found ways to provide accessible care to all residents.

In modern societies the cause of health disparities can often be tracked down to lack of investment in the human capital and resources to secure a healthy supply of care providers. In the USA, a country with vast amounts of wealth and resources, we have all the technology and know how to make health care insecurity history.

One quick online search will overwhelm you with solutions to the health disparities problem. The enormous number of results shows that there are many people searching for answers, interested in understanding the root causes of health disparities and how to solve them.

When we begin to “Google it” for results:
Is health care a right?: 3,000,000,000
How does technology improve our health care: 401,000,000
Which country has the best health care: 691,000,000
Dental care in rural communities: 30,600,000
Medical clinics on wheels: 7,350,000

Within an internet full of valuable research, inspiring insights and distracting clutter, solutions await you here in the Center for Medical and Dental Care@100%. Your introduction to the issues here in the “Center’s Main Hall” will guide you to what we call our ten “Innovation Areas” where action team projects await your review and engagement.

The Center for Medical and Dental Care@100% provides you with the strategies to ensure, county by county, that systems of medical and dental care are working effectively to serve all residents. We live in a time of vast knowledge regarding innovations in health promotion, patient care, delivery and design, development, and treatment where the only reasons for a family going without easy access to care in your locality are all manmade. The human ingenuity you discover here can ensure that 100% survive and thrive.

Keeping healthy is the goal. Whether it’s a child, parent or grandparent, staying healthy means having access to timely and affordable health care. Surviving the day may depend on it. Lack of access to health care can have serious consequences in everyday life and is magnified during times of crisis as we have seen during epidemics. All of us need to know where we can access timely medical care.

In the Center for Medical and Dental Care@100% we take on a very complicated system with numerous challenges and provide an overview of the medical and dental systems as well as a framework for solving problems. Get ready to be overwhelmed and also inspired. We will guide you through all the steps to put ideas into action.

“Health disparities is a man-made problem, not an act of nature, requiring human ingenuity to solve.”
— From the book Medical and Dental Care@100%: How we ensure all county residents can access medical and dental care

What Families Face

*These are fictionalized profiles based on real New Mexican residents.

Eric's Story

Eric has been having trouble seeing, but his teacher assumes that he is just not paying attention. Eric’s mom has been told of her son’s behavior in class and she is concerned. Eric would be better equipped to pay attention if someone would understand that he truly can’t see well. He’s not sure that his sight is really impaired, as this problem has been around for awhile. If the school had a nurse (many don’t, and many more only have one that works part-time), she might have known to test Eric’s vision. Eric, like many of his peers, is enduring all sorts of medical and dental challenges that go undiagnosed, misdiagnosed or diagnosed, all without the type of timely treatment and follow up that’s truly required. Not only is Eric’s health suffering but so is his school performance and sense of self.

Jen and Marie's Story

Jen and Marie are feeling healthy but Jen worries about where they would go if they or some of their extended family who live nearby need medical care. It’s unclear which local clinics offer which services and the websites can be confusing. Because some of Jen’s neighbors are now without health insurance after losing their jobs, she is doing her best to help them look for alternatives such as clinics that have sliding fee scales. Looking for options for health care is not easy and without insurance might be near impossible.

Jen calls her insurance company, waits forever to get a real person and is offered some providers to call. Many calls and days later, Jen is finally able to identify the best place for her and her daughter, in case they require care. She still worries, even with insurance, about the costs of care, the wait times and how well staff-staffed clinics are.

Time for action

You and your action team can, with one innovation, make vital services more accessible and improve the quality of services.

10 Innovations Await

It’s Time For Heroic Acts

You are about to review approximately twenty projects within 10 innovation areas that can, if done successfully, improve the quality and accessibility of current services. The long-term goal of these innovations and projects is to ensure that 100% of county residents have access to this vital service. Your task is to review all projects, individually and as part of an action team, to identify which one you wish to implement. In the time it takes to enjoy a grande latte, you can give our menu of innovations a quick read, starting with Innovation #1: Tracking Supply and Demand and ending with Innovation #10: Developing the City Dept. of Medical and Dental Care. These include projects initiated by action teams focused on a county and all the communities within its borders.

Health disparities have a long history

Health disparities are impacting our most vulnerable children and families with consequences for education, job readiness and public trust of government.

Why Disparities?

Health Disparities Face Us All

MEDICAL AND DENTAL CARE HAS EVERYTHING to do with our quality of life. If we can access quality care in a timely manner, we function better and we are healthier. If our access to care is threatened, we are in serious trouble.

Every county has residents experiencing health care disparities and some have segments of the population reporting extreme difficulty accessing care. In times of crisis like a pandemic, access to medical care becomes even more critical.

In the Center for Medical and Dental Care@100% (and corresponding chapter in the book 100% Community) we provide an overview of a very complicated system and its numerous challenges, as well as programs that reduce disparities. Get ready to be inspired. We will guide you through all the steps needed to put ideas for addressing health care security into action.

With literally millions of people reading articles on ending health disparities and thousands of foundations, governmental and non-governmental organizations focusing for decades on ending health care insecurity in the United States, why is access to timely care still so prevalent across fifty states? Why are students arriving at school with problems related to lack of medical, mental and dental care? Why do parents working full time not have enough money for medical and dental care? Why do clinics have long waiting lists and how could hospitals run out of beds along with enough providers to care for residents in a public health crisis?

We don’t mean to question our good-hearted leaders in political, academic and philanthropic circles, but there appears to be a complete disconnect between those who claim to have answers and the actual implementation of solutions to ensure 100% of our residents are able to access care. What are our morals, ethics and values that allow health disparities to exist amid so much abundance?

What kind of society would allow a policy of benign neglect to doom entire zip codes to health disparities? Why should our most vulnerable children and families ever endure pain because care providers are out of reach? If we ever needed a public and private sector solution to health disparities, this is the moment.

Some of us grew up with TV commercials asking that we send money to poverty-stricken counties across the globe to provide medical care. Plenty of websites and organizations still ask. You may notice that there is no mention of why the elected leaders of the same democratic countries where the commercials are airing are not ensuring medical care for all their own people. Truly, why are we all not asking, “What is the root cause of health disparities in the US and around the world?”

What the center can (and cannot) do

This is not an article about medical procedures or protocols for health care providers. This is not about medical advice or how to treat trauma from the point of view of medical professionals. This is an article about ensuring that everyone in your county can access medical and dental care when it’s needed. It’s about a profession that has the term “caring” often associated with it. So let’s collectively care deeply about making your county the healthiest in the state.

“Why don’t parents just call the doctor?”

Health care is a survival issue. In our 100% New Mexico initiative, we brand medical and dental care as one of our survival services. Simply put, untreated or poorly treated health or dental ailments can drag down school performance, strain relationships and generally stand in the way of a good life for kids, parents and anybody else. Neglect, the main reason parents have their children taken into child protective services’ custody, may be the result of parents not being able to get medical or dental care for their child.

Our best bet for addressing a host of health challenges is ensuring easy access to a quality, comprehensive health care system at an affordable price. We need not become the United Kingdom — where everything is free at the point of service — but we should make sure that parents don’t skip their kid’s medical treatment because they can’t afford it.

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Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author <em>100% Community</em> </div>
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Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

We don’t have to guess about the barriers to health care. Our survey of parents across a county reveal the reasons include: costs too much, wait list is too long, no insurance coverage, can’t find a quality provider, appointment times don’t work, too far to travel to, don’t have reliable transportation and don’t know where to get this service. This information is key, as data on gaps and barriers to services can guide local stakeholders to designing solutions.

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

What We Know

Our county survey will tell you why families struggle to access medical and dental care services and programs. Reasons include lack of programs, cost, no transport to programs, unaware of programs and unfriendly hours.

Who Lacks Care?

Health Disparities Have many causes

With clinics, hospitals and telemedicine a fixture in most of our regions, it seems inconceivable that kids or adults in our country should suffer from lack of medical and dental care.

In fact, the reality on the ground has been, up to now, difficult to gauge when it comes to specifically measuring health disparities in communities. Are lots of people ill and slowly dying on the streets, due to health disparities across the USA? This is an important question, but the real question is, “What do health disparities look like?” Four children playing ball in a school yard may not conjure up images of poor health due to lack of care. However, we don’t know how long it’s been since each had their last medical and dental check up. We have no idea what type of dental pain they have been told to endure because dental care is too expensive. What percentage of people lacking access to timely care is acceptable to you and your elected leaders? How does a pandemic impact the question of how difficult access to care may be in both rural and urban communities? Would you be okay being told your health care requires waiting weeks or months to access? Should any child, anywhere in your county, face barriers to needed care?

We ask: what are the root causes of health disparities?

The list covers a range of causes and solutions.

Lack of insurance: In the United States, your health insurance varies depending on where you (or your spouse or parent) work, which means that every time employment or familial relationships are disrupted, so is health insurance. If you get a great new job or get married, you also get to deal with health insurance paperwork, and that’s the best case scenario. We also inflict this burdensome chore on those who were recently laid off and those who are getting divorced, even those fleeing an abusive relationship. Enrolling in health insurance, especially if you don’t get it through a job, can be cumbersome and complex. Inevitably, a certain percentage of the population won’t figure it out, or won’t recognize that they really need to figure it out, which limits their access.
Lack of comprehensive coverage: Health insurance isn’t always very comprehensive. Sometimes, you can get the care you need for a $5 copayment. Sometimes, you have to pay the full price until you hit your $6,000 deductible. It just depends on your plan. Those with less comprehensive plans and not a lot of pocket money are effectively shut out of the system.
Inability to pay: The people who need it most are often not in a situation to pay for it, or not in a situation where they have the ability to fill out the, often overly complex, insurance paperwork. Teens running away from or getting thrown out of abusive homes, women or men fleeing abusive relationships, and those descending into horrible addictions, are examples of people who are not likely to come to the system of their own accord. Unfortunately, the system is not likely to find them either.
Lack of providers: In some areas, there are chronic shortages of health providers. If you have to make ten calls just to find someone accepting new patients, only to make an appointment three months from now, access is effectively restricted. Ditto if the provider works on the other side of a large city or in the next county over, and you don’t have a car.
Immigration status: Non-citizens are ineligible for many services. ICE has raided emergency rooms and clinics, making asylum seekers afraid to seek care. Legal immigrants fear that it will be harder to become a citizen if they enroll in public insurance plans like Medicaid or subsidies on health insurance exchanges.

Data Guide Us

With data from the 100% New Mexico Survey and other sources, you will have a good idea about where in your county the need for medical and dental services exists and why access is difficult for both parents and children. You may be surprised by your survey results and learn that a challenge is far bigger or smaller or more localized than originally thought.

Ensuring Services: A Local Challenge

People face different levels of hardship and risk during a pandemic directly related to their level of access to the 10 vital services for surviving and thriving. Inaccessible medical care, a lack of housing and food programs, and greatly increased joblessness during the associated economic downturn take a tremendous toll on families. It doesn’t have to be this way.

A Pandemic’s Impact on Services

Vital Questions Require Answers

In so-called “normal” times before the COVID-19 pandemic, health disparities were a fixture of our society. The pandemic has only increased the stresses on the health care systems as well as created more urgency for people to have timely access to prevention and treatment. The most pressing questions for your city, county and state elected leaders and stakeholders include:

How do we collect, analyze and publish the most timely data to guide prevention strategies?
How do we ensure enough COVID-19 tests and testing sites?
How do we ensure providers have the protective equipment required to be safe?
How do we ensure enough contact tracing?
How do we prevent homelessness and hunger if people in lock down or quarantine lose their job?
How do we strengthen mask-wearing and social distancing?
How do we ensure treatment, both hospital beds and providers?
How do we distribute the vaccine with buy-in from the public?
How do we address depression and trauma by ensuring access to behavioral health care?
How are vital family services for surviving and thriving made accessible to 100% of residents?

As you can see, question #10 places access to ten vital services into a comprehensive state and local strategy to prevent the pandemic. The 100% New Mexico initiative’s framework for ending barriers to services is vital and our work is urgently needed in each county. New Mexico State Senator Bill Soules, PhD, wrote in his Op-ed in the Las Cruces Sun News, “100% New Mexico: A model for COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment”:

“…an effective response to the pandemic goes beyond the medical sector. The countywide response required ten accessible services, allowing families to keep stabilized, supported, fed and housed, in order to comply with the state’s public health guidelines and to endure quarantining, isolating, social distancing and mask-wearing.”

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Matt Probst, Medical Director, PA-C, El Centro Family Health, NM </div>
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Matt Probst, Medical Director, PA-C, El Centro Family Health, NM

100% Community is a comprehensive guide to big picture systems change, one we have been needing for decades to address health disparities. With my initiative’s county team empowered by the book, we’ve been empowered to mobilize all family-serving service sector leaders and elected officials, united in creating a system of care across the entire county that I believe will serve as a model for the country. We embrace the opportunity to design the new systems of care and safety we urgently need.

Matt Probst, Medical Director, PA-C, El Centro Family Health, NM

Solutions Abound

We can happily report that many localities across the nation and globe have successfully prevented health disparities by ensuring universal access to care which may include a public sector solution or a combination of public and private sector solutions.

Where on earth?

WHERE ON EARTH HAS THIS CHALLENGE BEEN FIXED?

Medical and Dental Health Care@100% is looking at tested health care solutions, focused on innovations, projects, policies and programs implemented in large and small cities around the world.

If you have come this far, you know that ending health disparities in your community starts with knowing the magnitude of the problem, where precisely activities that indicate challenges (such as substance misuse, dietary challenges, etc.) are experienced and why children, youth and adults can’t access services to address the problems.

We present a challenge to you, your local business people and government leaders: Create a seamless countywide system of accessible medical and dental care to make health disparities history so every child, student and family member gets the care they need to thrive.

As you will see below, we have offered only a sliver of what’s out there in terms of innovations that have been shown to reduce health disparities and to empower individuals of all ages to find a path to robust health. Some models have been with us for decades and are tried, true and evaluated strategies. Some are quite new and merit experimentation and their own evaluation. We do not lack for solutions, just the political will to implement them.

Three important frameworks

As we say in all ten sector chapters, we want to reference the data-driven framework called Continuous Quality Improvement and its four phases: assessment, planning, action and evaluation (100% Community, Chapter 29). This four-step process will guide your development of innovations in the arena of medical and dental care. And, as a reminder, you will want to use Collective Impact (100% Community, Chapter 31) to organize your project and Adaptive Leadership (100% Community, Chapter 30) to determine if the particular challenge you seek to solve is technical, with established protocols for moving forward, or adaptive, where you are entering new uncharted territory without a clear path.

Designing a Countywide System

The past: How did we get to this point of needing a family-friendly medical and dental health care system? Who exactly needs services to be “family-friendly” anyway? What are the problems the system is supposed to solve? Why don’t people just figure out the systems on their own? Can’t everyone access care in a timely manner?

The present (action agenda): Within this subject, we’ve identified ten strategies — called innovation areas — that can be used to tackle the medical and dental health care access problem. Within those we suggest about twenty 100% New Mexico initiative projects that you (yes, you) can take on, thus propelling your community towards family-friendly health care in its many forms.

The future (goals): With enough work on these innovations/projects, we’ll get to the point where Innovation #10 — the creation of a City/County Department of Family-Friendly Medical and Dental Care — becomes a reality. With a state-of-the-art system of care in place, 100% of our county’s families could report excellent support and service.

Since we are currently in the present creating the future, your commitment to innovation is most eagerly sought and needed.

Partnerships and teamwork

At the heart of innovation are change agents implementing data-driven projects shown to fix barriers to services.

10 INNOVATIONS TO EXPLORE

CHANGE AGENTS NEEDED NOW

The following innovations represent strategies that have the capacity to increase access to medical and dental care programs to ensure our children and families are healthy, safe and successful.

As you will see as you explore Innovations #1–#10, a countywide system of health care security engages all stakeholders within the county’s borders that include data specialists, the private sector, technology experts, public awareness specialists, educators, health agency leaders, city mayors, council members and county commissioners. Your work will be groundbreaking as it unites leaders in all sectors to achieve one goal: health security for 100%.

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

Among the 20+ innovations in this Center, you will find that some are key to implementing the “7 Steps to Success” in your county. Innovation #1: Tracking Supply and Demand will provide valuable data to add to what your county collects with the 100% New Mexico survey.

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

Gregory Sherrow – Technology Advisor, 100% Community

If you join a tech company, you get the latest and greatest hardware plopped on your desk, connected to the fastest internet connection in the world. There is nothing standing between you and getting the job done. We need to ensure that everyone in the public sector and all residents have access to the tech and wifi that supports delivery of services, education and information. We can help you work around the technology obstacles you face in addition to ending the digital divide in your county. Visit Innovation #4: Harnessing Technology to explore how to use the power of tech to increase access to vital services in all ten inter-connected service areas.

Gregory Sherrow – Technology Advisor, 100% Community

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Dominic Cappello – Co-author 100% Community

The 100% New Mexico initiative isn’t just focused on problems, it’s about opportunities. The project comes with realistic, ready-to-go solutions housed here in the EYE. The only missing ingredient is you–the local change agent. To support the “7 Steps to Success,” preview Innovation #5: Generating Public Awareness offers Project 5.1, which focuses on creating a web-based and up-to-date county resource directory. Innovation 10: Developing the City Dept is where you think “big picture” and work to create sustainable services within local government so 100% can thrive.

Dominic Cappello – Co-author 100% Community

LET'S INNOVATE

Innovation #1

Tracking Supply and Demand

January 12 2021

Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 1 – Tracking Supply and Demand

Institute StaffMedical and Dental Care

Medical and Dental Care@100%: Innovation 1

Tracking Supply and Demand

EYE ON RESULTS

10 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “assess the situation” project

The “medical/dental care accessibility analysis” project

The “what’s ailing you?” project

The “can you get cared for from here?” project

The “does our care go where it should?” project

Project: Medical and Dental Care.1.1

Project 1: The “assess the situation” project

Most of the time somebody uses a health care provider, that visit is paid for by insurance and data on that visit are collected. The Health Insurance Portability, Access and Accountability Act (HIPAA) means that health visits are reported in the aggregate. You can’t see whether a particular person got care, but you can know how many women aged 30–39 got care, for example. Getting access to health information is harder than other data, because laws and policies see this information as sensitive in part due to the enduring stigma about mental illness. It is also cumbersome for many kinds of health providers to manage billing insurance companies for care, so they make the patient file the claim.

No single number will give you a complete picture of a community’s health. But by gathering multiple data sources and tracking them over time, you should be able to get an idea of how much medical and dental care insecurity there is in your community. Here’s your list:

Available data: Your state Public Health Department and Human Services Department should have aggregate data for the whole state and maybe some by county.
Sources of care: Locate sources of health care, both private and public including emergency rooms, urgent care centers, doctor’s offices, hospitals, community health centers, free clinics, school clinics, pastoral counseling centers, social workers and psychiatrists.
Access limitations: Determine the operating hours and eligibility requirements for every source and determine if they take Medicaid, Medicare or self-pay patients. Do you have to be a US citizen to get care?
ER data: How many patients does the hospital emergency department serve each year? How many of them are transported by ambulance?
Community health center: Does your community have one? Does a federally-qualified health center or tribal health center have a fully-functioning health staff?
Free clinic data: Does your community have a free clinic? How many patients can it handle on average? Is care restricted to certain age groups or other populations?
Faith-based: Many clergy provide initial counseling for health concerns and support to their members. You may have to call pastors/faith-based organization leaders. Note how many sessions they offer on average.
Elder service agencies: How many have social workers or other health care providers on staff? Who is eligible for care?
School districts: Is there a school-based health center in your community? What services are provided, what age group(s) do they serve? How many visits occur in an average month? Do your schools have volunteer or paid school nurses on staff?
Homeless shelters: Many serve substance-using or mentally ill clients routinely. Who do they call when they can’t manage a client with health or addiction issues?
Domestic violence shelters: They may track visits to additional care that the shelter program supports. Maybe take a snapshot once per month and track over time.
Child welfare data: While not easy to acquire, there may be a way to assess data on adult and child clients needing medical and dental health care.
American Community Survey: The ACS is an ongoing survey that provides vital information on a yearly basis about the United States and its people. Information from the survey generates data that help determine how more than $675 billion in federal and state funds are distributed each year.

As mentioned, this won’t be as simple an assessment as those for some other sectors, but if you get these numbers, you should at least be able to tell if the situation in your community is going in a good or bad direction. In this project, you will be gathering as much data as you can to paint a picture of local behavioral health care: the first step in identifying challenges.

Deliverables:

Create a one-page overview/update on the status of health care to present to the 100% New Mexico team and stakeholders. (Rough time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

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Medical and Dental Care@100% Innovation 1 – Tracking Supply and Demand

Project: Medical and Dental Care.1.2

Project 2: The “medical/dental care accessibility analysis” project

Your mission is to figure out where people of limited means can access health care. Make a list of all sliding scale clinics, health department operations, public hospitals designated for charity care, school-based health centers and the like, then see what you can learn about how accessible they are. Ask patients, or maybe even the administration, how many days or weeks it would take to get seen by a doctor, or the average wait time for emergency room care. As a bonus, you could call up a few primary care doctors and dental clinics and see if they take Medicaid.

How to do custom Google Maps: https://aae.how/24
American Community Survey: https://aae.how/25

Deliverables:

Create a one-page overview/update, ideally with supplementary maps, on the status of medical and dental care to present to the 100% New Mexico team and stakeholders. (Rough time frame: 3 months)

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Project: Medical and Dental Care.1.3

Project 3: The “what’s ailing you?” project

This is the advanced project and may not even be possible in your state, but here’s the background: as part of the ongoing effort to identify ways to reduce health care costs, many states have developed something called an all-payer claims database. Your state may be one of them. Basically the idea is that instead of hoarding all this useful information for proprietary reasons, all payers (translation: insurance companies) would be forced to turn over data on medical services they buy to a central state authority for further analysis. These data would of course be anonymized, but in theory, it should spell out, in a helpful level of detail, how many people are getting what types of treatments and what it’s costing them. From this, we can infer the types of medical problems people have.

So if your state has one of these programs and the data are accessible to lay members of the public, you could have an interesting data analysis project on your hands. This varies everywhere; our best advice is to find an expert at the local university to help you out, poke around and see what you can find. Look for leading causes of death, the most expensive procedures, the most common ailments, ways in which your local area deviates from other parts of the state and other interesting trends.

All-payer claims databases: https://aae.how/118

Deliverables:

Create a one-page overview/update on what the database shows for your county, and present to the 100% New Mexico team and stakeholders. (Rough time frame: 6 months or longer)

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Project: Medical and Dental Care.1.4

Project 4: The “can you get cared for from here?” project

This project might best be done in conjunction with the transportation task force/action team. Here’s the mission: Map out all of your county’s medical facilities, then figure out how accessible they are by just using public transit. Pay special attention to hospitals, primary care doctors, dental offices, and behavioral health operations. Look at service frequency, hours of operation, etc. Try to figure out if an average patient with a doctor’s appointment could make it work without a car. If you feel really creative, create a map in Google Maps showing where services are and where transit goes.

How to do custom Google Maps: https://aae.how/24
American Community Survey: https://aae.how/25

Deliverables:

Create a short summary of where health care facilities are and how accessible they are on public transit. Present initial findings to the entire 100% New Mexico team and stakeholders. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

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Project: Medical and Dental Care.1.5

Project 5: The “does our care go where it should?” project

Your medical and dental system (notice the term “system,” as it should be one seamless system serving the entire county) should serve all residents, but especially your community’s most critical areas: census areas with high rates of child welfare involvement, low income areas, areas with high unemployment, high schools with low achievement and high dropout rates.

US census (general): https://aae.how/119
US census (data profiles): https://aae.how/120

Deliverables:

Find or make a map of the county, then make a map of all “high risk” areas and all medical and dental care programs. Then see how well those two maps overlap. Also take a look at service frequency: is care, in its many forms, being offered where the need is the highest? Whether medical and dental care providers “serve” the most critical areas depends on more than what the map looks like. This project ends (well, at least phase of this project) with a report shared widely with all county stakeholders. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

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LET'S INNOVATE

Medical and Dental Care

Generating Public Awareness

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Project 1: The “create The Medical And Dental Care@100% User-friendly Website” Project

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Project 2: The “be patient and focused” project

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Project 3: The “email Medical And Dental Care@100% Often” Project

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Developing the City Dept of Medical and Dental Care

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Project 1: The “county/city Partnership That Funds The Department Of Accessible Medical And Dental Health Care” Project

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Project 2: The “convene Your Fellow Medical And Dental Care Advocates And Enhance Your Skills In Public Speaking, Committee Briefing, And How To Get To A Lawmaker” Project

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Project 3: The “know Your Stuff Before You Meet The Mayor” Project

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Project 4: The “create A Bold Vision And Strategic Plan” Project

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Strengthening Local Services

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Project 1: The “research Potential Resources” Project

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Project 2: The “usda Rural Development (Rd) Initiative Grant Possibility” Project

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Project 3:The “we Need A State Coalition To Make Great Things Happen” Project

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Supporting Cities and Counties

Project Quick Links

Project 1: The “addressing shortages of providers” project

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