Behavioral health is a public policy priority with a significant impact on other policy priorities: access, financial challenges, emergency services, governmental mandates, and workforce.
Community health is impacted by myriad policy issues including access to care, care coordination, pre- and post-acute service availability, community support service availability, as well as the social determinants of health status such as poverty, housing instability/affordability, food insecurity, lack of physical activity, race/ethnicity, education, health literacy and documentation status.
Many of the barriers to effective emergency care systems are also barriers to effective population health management and the Associations’ vision of an optimally healthy society. Pre-hospital care and services, emergency department crowding, alternate destinations and treatment sites as well as post-acute transfer options impact the effectiveness of emergency departments and the ability of residents to receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place.
Secure, effective exchange of patient health information is critical to increase coordination of care and decrease costly duplication of services. Issues involved include: data ownership; privacy; connectivity; access; and local vs. statewide HIEs.
Without sufficient, well-trained health care professionals at all levels of the care continuum, access, quality, timeliness and safety for patients and staff is compromised. Shortages include specialty nurses, clinical lab scientists, respiratory and physical therapists, radiology technologists and more.
As telehealth programs across the country look to scalability and sustainability, they seem to put the focus on numbers: how many patients served, how much money saved, how many rehospitalizations avoided. This is how telemedicine is measured these days.
And therein lies a challenge. What numbers are important to a doctor in a small, remote clinic who wants to see a patient but doesn’t want that patient to have to travel a couple hours to get to the office? (mHealth Intelligence)
Becker’s Hospital Review recently published its 2019 edition of the “100 hospital and health system CIOs to know” list. It features some of the most impressive health IT leaders from around the country dedicated to advancements and innovation in the industry. Tahoe Forest Health System’s Chief Information and Innovation Officer, Jake Dorst, has been honored with this recognition. (Tahoe Forest Health System)
Dignity Health announced Thursday it is distributing $1.05 million this year to dozens of community-based organizations in Nevada, Sacramento and Yolo counties to help meet community health needs outside its hospital walls.
The grants are going toward assisting the most vulnerable residents of the region: at-risk children, survivors of human and labor trafficking, individuals living with mental illness and dementia, the homeless and ethnic groups with high rates of chronic disease. (The Sacramento Bee)
The Hospital Council of Northern and Central California is the unified voice of our members, acting as a catalyst to empower hospitals to act together on issues affecting patient care and the health status of communities. We are dedicated to advocating for our member hospitals at the local and regional level and in support of California Hospital Association (CHA) at the State and Federal level.
We strive to be an invaluable partner, convening groups across multiple sectors to address health and quality of life challenges within our communities.
