Medical Home Meeting: December 10, 2014

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At our December meeting, we welcomed Soloe Dennis, Regional Director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH).  He spoke about the Western Massachusetts Health Equity Summit held on October 2, 2014 at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst.  One segment of this summit was devoted to understanding and utilizing local data to address health disparities.  MDPH collects data and will share it with interested organizations.

According to the website, MDPH holds data relating to births and fetal deaths that occur in Massachusetts.  MDPH tracks newly diagnosed cases of malignant disease and benign brain-related tumors that occur to Massachusetts residents. The Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS) manages admission, discharge and invoice information for over 150 publicly funded treatment agencies.

MDPH provides grants for community partners working to address health disparities.  Matthew Sadof, MD, mentioned that the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition (PVAC) received seed money to start a home visit program in Springfield, MA.  MDPH is especially interested in working with collaborative partnerships such as PVAC.  Any partnership that is looking for assistance with preparing a grant proposal is encouraged to reach out to Margot Malachowski, Community Outreach Librarian at Baystate Health, for help with doing the preliminary research that is often necessary for a successful grant proposal.  This link offers many ways to contact Margot.

This video explains the PVAC:

At our meeting, Dr. Sadof announced that Jane O’Brien is the new Care Coordinator at Baystate Children’s Specialty Center.  Congratulations, Jane!  Dr. Sadof reminded us that his new “4C”  grant-funded project will be enrolling families starting in January 2015.  4C = Collaborative Consultive Coordinated Care for families coping with medical complexities.  The focus of the grant is to create a cloud-based care plan that the families control.

Finally, from the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality:

  • A new resource, the Family Engagement Guide, provides step-by-step guidance, checklists and tips for medical practices on how to engage families in the medical home transformation and ongoing quality improvement process. The guide helps practices determine if they are ready to work with families as improvement partners, and then how to recruit and work with Family Health Partners and how to evaluate, sustain and improve the Family Health Partners role and relationship. Visit http://medicalhome.nichq.org/ to learn more.

Medical Home Meeting: November 12, 2014

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Winter Fest at ShrinersIn November, we met to discuss emergency preparedness for our families.  Willie Spears, from the Springfield Fire Department, was on hand to take our questions and remind us of the steps necessary to help our families stay safe.  Our families need to know that FEMA takes 72 hours to get “boots on the ground” after a natural disaster.

Here is a link to the official FEMA brochure for people with disabilities.  Advice includes: 1) knowing what types of emergencies are likely to affect your region; 2) making a communication plan that includes your family, friends and service providers; 3) being ready to shelter-in-place (purchasing generators or portable batteries for life-sustaining medical equipment) AND/OR to evacuate quickly to a safer location; and 4) putting together an emergency kit that includes important documents and a way to access funds.

Many of our families are living in poverty.  Here is a news article that gives tips for building an emergency kit on a budget.

Our discussion opened up to the 911 Disability Indicator.   Please contact your local police or fire department to fill out this form.

From the DISABILITY INDICATOR FORM

You are required to complete this form if you want your police department, fire department, or other emergency agency to know about you when you call 9-1-1 in an emergency.

When your 9-1-1 call is answered at your local Public Safety Answering Point, the 9-1-1 system automatically displays your name, address and telephone number on the dispatcher’s screen.

*PLEASE NOTE: IT IS IMPORTANT TO SUBMIT A NEW DISABILITY INDICATOR FORM UPON CHANGE OF SERVICE PROVIDER, TELEPHONE NUMBER, OR ADDRESS.*

At your request, codes will be displayed on the dispatcher’s screen that will identify the disability indicators that have been reported for you or someone living with you at your address.

These codes will help the dispatcher at the 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point to communicate with the caller and provide useful information to your responding public safety agency.

The information is confidential and will only appear at the dispatcher’s location when a 9-1-1 call originates from your address.

The information you provide for input to the 9-1-1 system will remain until you request a change or make a request to have it removed. It is your responsibility to notify your 9-1-1 Municipal Coordinator when there is a change in the information described on this form.

When there is a change, complete another form and send it to your 9-1-1 Municipal Coordinator.

If the disability indicator form is not completed properly, the information will not be entered into the 9-1-1 system.

Since 2005, Springfield has experienced a tornado and a hurricane, in addition to microbursts, Nor’easters, tropical storms and an inner city gas explosion.

After talking disasters, Carla Doyle from Community Resources for People with Autism gave us a refresher on the Autism Waiver Program, funding wrap-around services for 80 families in Massachusetts.  The deadline has passed, but this is an annual opportunity.  Tell your families to re-apply every year.

Dr. Sadof (@MDSadof) reminded everyone about his care coordination grant. Families should inquire at the Baystate Children’s Specialty Center.  

Tonight (Dec 2, 2014) is our Winter Wonderland Festival.  We are welcoming families from 4:30-6:30pm at Shriners Hospital for Children, 516 Carew St in Springfield, MA.  Please contact Jane O’Brien at (413) 794-2085 with any questions.  This event is sponsored by the Medical Home Work Group and Thom WRCP.

Medical Home Meeting: October 8, 2014

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Our October meeting was a time to put faces to names as Lori Bosak & Maureen Maiuri from the Center for Health Care Financing spoke about Enhanced Coordination of Benefits (ECOB).  Lori had several fans in the room, and she was happy to meet people face-to-face.

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The ECOB Unit is administered by the University of Masschusetts Medical School to provide benefit coordination to MassHealth members.  In plain language, this means that Lori (and other coordinators across the state) will work with a family’s existing private health insurance as well as MassHealth to get the greatest amount of coverage possible.  Lori stated that she works to help “the sickest of the sick”–children with complex medical needs who are high utilizers of health care services.  She helps families understand their MassHealth benefits and seeks to relieve their burdens by taking on battles with insurance companies.

MassHealth will help pay for private insurance premiums.  “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” says Lori.  Massachusetts law requires that MassHealth members obtain any available group insurance.  She helps families enroll in available employee health insurance and will explore the possibility of COBRA benefits for dependents who are aging out of their parents’ plans.   ECOB will provide premium assistance for private insurance, including COBRA.  For families with complex medical needs, it is more cost-efficient for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to make payments for COBRA coverage than to pick up the tab for medical expenses.

Lori urges families to contact her for assistance.  She knows that insurance claims get “lost” or are denied.  Lori works diligently to resolve any issues between families, their private insurance companies, their employers and MassHealth.  No wonder she has fans!

After the ECOB presentation, Dr. Sadof (@MDSadof) gave an update on his care coordination grant.  We were reminded of the upcoming Winter Wonderland Festival, to be held on Tue, Dec 2 from 4:30-6:30pm at Shriners Hospital for Children, 516 Carew St in Springfield, MA.  To donate your time, money or gifts, please contact Jane O’Brien at (413) 794-2085.  This event is sponsored by the Medical Home Work Group and Thom WRCP.