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Based on findings from a survey and focus groups of educators, nurses, and employers, a newly released report offers evidence-based recommendations to help educational institutions prepare registered nurses for the future of primary care.
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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded TriWest Healthcare Alliance (TriWest) a contract to administer the VA’s Community Care Network (CCN) in California. TriWest will establish and maintain a network of community care providers in the state, as outlined in the Veterans Community Care Program final rule.
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Last month, Tom Insel, MD, Gov. Newsom’s new special advisor on mental health care, shared with the Behavioral Health Action coalition some early ideas to change the trajectory of behavioral health care delivery in California. That Dr. Insel recognized coalition members as important to the process of transforming behavioral health is testament to the group’s hard and excellent work over the past year.
CHA co-founded Behavioral Health Action in 2018 with the National Alliance for Mental Illness, California, as an alliance of more than 50 organizations from health care, education, labor, law enforcement, local government, and business. Our first-of-its-kind coalition is focused on eliminating stigma and engaging lawmakers to develop solutions to the behavioral health challenges that so many Californians experience — for example:
More than 6 million Californians suffer from a mental illness.
Only one in three gets the help they need.
The number of adolescents suffering from depressive illnesses statewide continues to outpace the national rate.
Half of us will care for someone living with a mental health issue at some point in our lives.
The statistics are daunting, so the coalition hit the ground running last year with its mission to elevate the prominence of behavioral health so it gets the attention it needs, educate decision makers, and innovate the way we treat and support Californians in need — which includes getting the right care, in the right setting, at the right time.
In October, we held a one-on-one conversation with then-candidate Newsom, who pledged his commitment to turn California into a leader in improving the lives of people experiencing behavioral health challenges. When Dr. Insel spoke to the coalition last month, he continued to advance that conversation, explaining his view that we need both a shared understanding of the current problems and shared goals for tackling them.
Behavioral Health Action is working on just such a shared vision — an updated statewide model for behavioral health that will serve as a roadmap for the administration to use. As the model progresses, we’ll keep you updated.
In the meantime, we continue our work on many fronts: educating lawmakers about the importance of change, advocating for a budget that ensures everyone can get care when they need it, and strengthening our ties with the administration through a common sense of purpose.
CARMELA
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Sutter Health has been named an honoree of the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Equity of Care Award for its efforts to reduce health care disparities and further diversity and inclusion. The annual award recognizes hospitals and health systems that have moved beyond plans and achieved a high level of success in advancing diversity and equity through data collection, leadership, cultural awareness, and partnerships. The award will be presented July 25 at AHA’s Leadership Summit in San Diego.
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The terrain darkened as I drove the rural back roads of Georgia, red clay lining the sandy soil, deep-green kudzu choking trees and climbing telephone poles; the highway transformed into bumpy roads wearing worn-out street signs. It was summer 1985, and I was driving to see Mamie, a part-time nanny who’d helped raise me as a child. I barely knew about her own life back then, only that she lived across town, a single mom with a teenage son. I hadn’t seen her for decades.
I was now a 30-something TV reporter in Atlanta.
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This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.The push for Proposition (Prop) 35 is in the home stretch. Election Day is a little over a month away, and ballots will drop in just a couple of weeks. Voters are now paying attention. This is the time when hospitals must […]
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What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a request for information (RFI) on how artificial intelligence (AI) is used to improve health care delivery, with the goal of informing future rulemaking.
What else to know: CMS will select organizations to showcase their AI products and services to educate the agency and inform future policymaking during a series of “Demo Days” starting in October.
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Last week, California’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, promised to pursue a smorgasbord of changes to his state’s health care system: state negotiation of drug prices; a requirement that every Californian have health insurance; more assistance to help middle-class Californians afford it; and health care for undocumented immigrants up to age 26.
The proposals fell short of the sweeping government-run single-payer plan Mr. Newsom had supported during his campaign — a system in which the state government would pay all the bills and effectively control the rates paid for services. (Many California politicians before him had flirted with such an idea, before backing off when it was estimated that it could cost $400 billion a year.) But in firing off this opening salvo, Mr. Newsom has challenged the notion that states can’t meaningfully tackle health care on their own. And he’s not alone.
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CHA submitted the attached comment letter responding to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed rule that would change managed care regulations for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). While most of the rule’s proposals are technical adjustments or changes that have little impact on the Medi-Cal managed care program, some could impact the managed care portion of the Hospital Fee Program.
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A Texas court’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional is reviving the divisive and damaging political battle that threatens the viability of hospitals and the ability of insurers to offer reasonable health policies. But all Americans, regardless of where they stand on the ACA, can agree on this much: We need to lower the cost of care while improving quality and patient satisfaction.An ideal way to do this is to keep patients out of the hospital whenever possible through proactive, preventive care.