We need your help!!!

The Colorado Patient Navigator and Community Health Worker Collaborative hopes to learn more about the resources available to clients and activities underway in the area of patient navigation, community health work and care coordination. We hope the results of this survey will help to better coordinate services within communities through an understanding of what is needed to support this work and the current status of community health work, patient navigation and care coordination in Colorado to advance the field.

As a partner in this effort, the Colorado School of Public Health is helping conduct this survey (COMIRB #13-1524).

This survey is intended to capture information about the persons involved in the following role(s):

• Section I: Persons actually delivering the service/care to clients
• Section II: Persons directing or managing programs
• Section III: Persons involved in training
• Section IV: Persons conducting research
• Section V: Persons involved in policy work/advocacy
• Section VI: Persons who are not currently involved but have an interest

 Link: https://redcap.ucdenver.edu/surveys/?s=LZJV4g

Please provide input about ALL areas applicable to your work or services. On average, the survey will take 15 minutes to complete. If you chose to share your contact information and allow your information to be released, you will receive the results of the survey. If you do not wish your contact information to be shared, the data will NOT be provided to outside agencies. We encourage you to forward this survey along to your networks and colleagues. Within the survey, there is an opportunity to provide information about networks and individuals you plan to forward/share information; or you can reply to this e-mail or andrea.dwyer@ucdenver.edu if you have any questions or ideas about survey dissemination. The results and a survey summary will be shared at the Public Health in the Rockies Conference in Breckenridge in September. There will be a special focus on patient navigation and community health work on September 19th and 20th. To register for the conference, please visit: http://www.coloradopublichealth.org/conference/.

Thank You-

Colorado Patient Navigator and Community Health Worker Collaborative

Regionalization Subcommittee

 To Learn More about the Colorado Patient Navigator and Community Health Worker Collaborative, please visit: https://sites.google.com/site/copnchwcollaborative/

Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Webinars and Calls:

1.    The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis is pleased to announce the Nursing Workforce Research Activities and Findings webinar in coordination with the release of its most recent publication “The U.S. Nursing Workforce:  Trends in Supply and Education.”  The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis will present key findings on the supply, distribution and education of RNs and LPNs from their report; with discussion topics centered on key changes in nursing employment over the past decade and current projects underway to address the supply and demand of the nursing workforce.  The study was able to look at the rural/urban split of practicing RNs (including advanced practice RNs) and LPNs finding that 16 percent and 24 percent of RNs and LPNs respectively live in rural communities. 

      The webinar will be held:

      Tuesday, May 14, 2013; 2:00-3:00PM Eastern

      https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/health_wrkfrc_webinar/

      Dial-in Number: 800-857-1222; passcode: 7298874

      More on “The U.S. Nursing Workforce” report can be found on the National Center’s website at http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/reports/nursingworkforce/index.html.

2.    Thursday, May 16^th at 2:00pm EST, the National Network of Telehealth Resource Centers will be hosting a webinar “Creative Approaches to Serving Patients, Saving Resources and Stretching Dollars.”  Please join us for the discussion https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/sbtelehealth/

3.    Thursday, May 23^rd the National Network for Oral Health Access and the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health will be holding a webinar focused on the recruitment and retention of oral health providers in rural communities.  This will be the first webinar in an upcoming series. 

To register visit: https://nosorh.webex.com/mw0307l/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=nosorh&service=6&rnd=0.9154098310188442&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnosorh.webex.com%2Fec0606l%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26confViewID%3D1003794949%26%26%26%26siteurl%3Dnosorh

The Affordable Care Act:

When open enrollment begins on October 1, 2013, for the Health Insurance Marketplaces individuals will find a shortened application process.  The application for individuals is broken down into five simple steps while applications for families will follow a six step procedure.  The simplification of the process will allow consumers to see their entire range of health insurance options, including plans in the Marketplace, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and tax credits that can be used to help with paying premiums.  Applications can be completed online, by phone or by paper.  Information on the updated applications can be found at http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/other/index.html#hie

·         Individual application  http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/other/Files/AttachmentB_042913.pdf

·         Family application  http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/other/Files/AttachmentC_042913.pdf

Policy:

The Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Care Hospital Proposed Rule for fiscal year 2014, is now available for public comment through June 25^th.  The proposed rule in its entirety can be found at http://www.ofr.gov/inspection.aspx#special

A few of the proposed changes that may impact rural hospitals include:

·         Changes to Critical Access Hospital conditions of participation relating to payment for inpatient services;

·         Payments for residents training in approved residency programs at Critical Access Hospitals;

·         Payment adjustments for Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospitals;

·         Payment adjustments for low-volume hospitals; and

·         Proposed changes to admission and medical review criteria for hospital inpatient services under Medicare Part A. 

The “Medicare Billing Information for Rural Providers and Suppliers” Booklet (ICN 006762) has been revised and is now available.  This booklet is designed to provide education on Medicare rural billing and includes specific information for Critical Access Hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Home Health Agencies, Rural Health Clinics, Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Swing Beds.

·         The book is available at http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/Downloads/RuralChart.pdf

And, in text format only at http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/Downloads/RuralChart-Text-Only.pdf

What is a Health Insurance CO-OP?

A $69 million federal start up loan Friday stamps an emphatic answer on the lingering question of what exactly is a health insurance "co-op," as the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union launches the concept for Colorado. To read the Denver Post article in full click here

Populist health insurance co-op for Colorado wins $69 million federal loan

HRSA Announcement: Area Resource File Updated

HRSA announces that the 2011-2012 version of the Area Resource File (ARF) has been updated.

Established in 1975, the ARF is a health resource information database used extensively by researchers, planners and policy makers to obtain data on all counties in the United States.

Updates include: health workforce (e.g., physicians by specialty, dentists, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives); health professions shortage areas; health facilities (e.g., hospitals, rural health clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, nursing facilities); health expenditures (e.g., hospital facilities expenditures, Medicare Advantage payment rates); demographics (e.g., population by race, poverty, income, health insurance, and Medicaid eligibles); and more.

The ARF contains more than 6,000 variables with 3,225 records from more than 50 sources, including the American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, U.S. Census Bureau, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and National Center for Health Statistics. The file lists the types of data and years for which the individual data elements are available, and provides links to more detailed content. Also available is a link to the Health Resources County Comparison Tool, which was built from ARF data and facilitates comparison of ARF data across counties.

The 2011-2012 file can now be downloaded at no cost in ASCII and Access formats. Visit www.arf.hrsa.gov for a complete listing of data and instructions for downloading the file. The ARF is also available in HRSA’s Data Warehouse at http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/ARF.aspx.

Under a new contract effective July 1, HRSA will be expanding the ARF to include state and national level data. In addition, new data elements, assessment tools and mapping capability will make the ARF even more valuable to researchers and consumers.

New MedPAC Report Could Prove Harmful to Rural Patients and Providers; Your Voice is Needed to Tell the Real Story of Rural Health

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent Congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to advise Congress on issues affecting the Medicare Program, including analyzing access to care, quality of care, and other issues affecting Medicare. 

MedPAC released a report to Congress this week, Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, which examines issues central to the beneficiaries’ experience of the Medicare program. One chapter specifically examines care for beneficiaries in rural areas, including access to care for rural beneficiaries, the quality of the care they receive, special rural payments, and the adequacy of payments for rural provides.    

The Commission reported there is little differences in health care service use by Medicare beneficiaries between rural and urban areas, patient satisfaction is similar, there are no major differences in quality between urban and rural providers, and rural hospital payments and financial margins are ample.   

Rural health advocates are concerned that inaccuracies in the report could be harmful to rural Americans. We know access to care and inadequate reimbursement rates in rural Colorado and across America are problematic and programs and policies aimed at fixing these issues are crucial and cannot be allowed to expire. A report released in April by iVantage Health Analytics, Inc. (which also used Medicare data), found that Medicare spending is 3.7% less per beneficiary in rural markets than in urban markets, even though this spending includes “special payments” provided to rural hospitals and practitioners. The report found that rural hospitals nationally have equal or better quality outcomes, and cost less per Medicare beneficiary than their urban counterparts confirming rural hospitals and clinics are a good value for patients and for taxpayers.   

Rural providers, patients and communities will pay the price if Congress acts based on information found in the MedPAC report, so we need your voice. We need data, stories, and examples to paint the real picture of rural health. CRHC staff will be traveling to Washington, D.C. in July to participate in NRHA’s March for Rural Hospitals and will be meeting with Colorado’s members of Congress. It is our chance to make your voice heard, so please contact Alicia Haywood or Jen Dunn with any questions you might have, as well as any information to illustrate the access and the financial challenges facing rural providers and patients.

CMS Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment meeting set for August

The second semi-annual meeting of the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment will be Aug. 27, 28 and 29. The purpose of the panel is to advise the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the clinical integrity of the APC groups and their associated weights, and hospital outpatient therapeutic supervision issues. Of particular interest to rural hospitals and CAHs, the panel will be reviewing recommendations from the public (including hospitals, organizations, associations) on the appropriate supervision level (general, direct or personal) for individual hospital outpatient therapeutic services. More information on the process to submit recommendations for this meeting and on recent changes to the supervision level for individual outpatient therapeutic services can be found online here and in this document and the preliminary decisions can be found here. Presentations and comments must be sent to CMS by 5 p.m. EDT July 27. The deadline for meeting registration and for requests for special accommodations is 5 p.m. EDT August 17.

Complete CRHC's Policy and Advocacy Survey Today

Complete CRHC's Policy and Advocacy Survey Today

Please inform the Colorado Rural Health Center’s (CRHC) policy & advocacy efforts for 2012 by completing our annual survey. Your feedback is invaluable and will help guide our work. The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete and can be accessed by clicking here. The survey will be open until Friday September 30, 2011. Please complete the survey only once per person. Your responses are greatly appreciated!

White House Releases Deficit Reduction Proposal Calling for Medicare, Medicaid Changes – CRHC/AHEC Webinar

October 4 2:00-3:00 MDTThe White House proposal that was released earlier this week calls for reducing the nation’s debt by $3 trillion over the next ten years. The deficit reduction plan puts forth significant reductions in Medicare and Medicaid spending that will drastically impact rural healthcare providers and communities, including lowering Critical Access Hospital (CAH) reimbursement, eliminating CAH designation for any facility within 10 miles of another hospital, reducing the Medicare bad debt payments for PPS hospitals, lowering the federal matching rate for Medicaid to the states, and reducing the Medicaid Hospital Provider Fee. Read NRHA's response to the White House proposal.

As Congress moves forward with deficit reduction activities in the coming weeks, this proposal will be under consideration. Members of Congress need to hear from their constituents about the impact these cuts will have on rural providers and access to care in rural communities. CRHC, in partnership with the Area Health Education Centers, will be hosting a webinar on October 4 from 2:00-3:00 pm to discuss these proposals and provide information and resources for communicating with your elected officials. Click here to register for the webinar. Please contact Jen Dunn or Sara Schmitt with questions.

DORA - Changes to the Physical Therapy Practice Act

A memorandum from DORA is available summarizing the legislative changes to the Physical Therapy Practice Act. The memorandum can be found here. As explained in the memorandum, some of the legislative changes have already become effective and others will be more fully implemented in the future.

Update on Federal Deficit Reduction Negotiations

The bipartisan “Gang of Six” in the U.S. Senate has put forward a plan for deficit reduction. Reports have stated that the deal, totaling $3.7 trillion over 10 years, would include 26 percent revenue increase and 74 percent spending cuts. Early information shows a possible $200 billion in cuts to health care. The released information, however, does not include the specifics of where these cuts would be made. Earlier proposals have included reducing or eliminating the Medicaid Hospital Provider Fee, $14 billion in Medicare cuts to rural providers, and reducing the federal matching rate for Medicaid to the states.
Because the details the health care cuts under consideration are still unknown, it is critical to continue communicating with our members of Congress, especially Senators Bennet and Udall. Please contact Senator Bennet, Senator Udall, and your Representative with this message: “Please protect Medicare and Medicaid as you consider changes and cuts in the federal budget. Rural communities rely on these programs and significant cuts will threaten access to care and economic growth in rural Colorado.” Feel free to personalize your message with how Medicare and Medicaid impact your community.
Thanks to all who have already contacted your elected officials.
You can contact your legislators by phone and email:
Senator Michael Bennet, 202.224.5852
Senator Mark Udall, 877.768.3255
Capitol Switchboard, 202.224.3121 (ask for your Representative's office and to speak with the staff who handles health issues)

Click here for a list of Colorado's members of Congress and email addresses for their healthcare staff. If you don't know who represents you in Congress, click here and enter your zip code.

Call to Action: Take Action Today in Support of Rural Healthcare

Political leaders in Washington are discussing options for raising the nation’s debt ceiling limit by August 2nd and cutting federal spending to address the deficit. Medicare and Medicaid are targeted for significant spending and benefit cuts, with proposals being considered that would cut $14 billion in Medicare funding for rural hospitals, reduce the federal Medicaid matching rate to the states, and limit or eliminate the Medicaid hospital provider fee that supports expansion of coverage to the uninsured and the hospitals that care for the medically vulnerable.

These proposed cuts will disproportionately impact rural and underserved communities, destabilizing rural healthcare providers and facilities and severely limiting access to care in rural Colorado. CRHC has been communicating with Colorado’s members of Congress about the critical role that Medicare and Medicaid play in rural communities and we encourage you to do the same.

Please take a few minutes today and no later than Monday, July 18 to contact Senator Bennet, Senator Udall, and your Representative with this message: “Please oppose any debt ceiling plan that cuts rural hospital programs in Medicare or makes deep reductions in Medicaid payments, including the hospital provider fee. Rural communities rely on these programs and significant cuts will threaten access to care and economic growth in rural Colorado.” Feel free to personalize your message with how Medicare and Medicaid impact your community.
Please contact your legislators by phone and email:
Senator Michael Bennet, 202.224.5852 (ask for Rohini Ravindran)
Senator Mark Udall, 877.768.3255 (ask for Jake Swanton)
Capitol Switchboard, 202.224.3121 (ask for your Representative's office and to speak with the staff who handles health issues)

Click here for a list of Colorado's members of Congress and email addresses for their healthcare staff.

To learn more about how to communicate with your elected officials, the National Rural Health Association is hosting an educational webinar at 10:00 AM today Thursday, July 14. Click here to register.

JAMA Article Misses the Mark

The June 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) featured an article entitled Quality of Care and Patient Outcomes in Critical Access Rural Hospitals. Many who have had the opportunity to review the article conclude that it unfairly calls into question the quality of care in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). The article reported that when compared with non-Critical Access Hospitals, CAHs had fewer clinical capabilities, worse measured process of care, and higher mortality rates for patients with AMI, CHF or Pneumonia.

The Flex Monitoring Team has prepared a detailed analysis of the JAMA report on quality of care at CAHs. The team is funded by HRSA, and is comprised of the nation's leading experts on rural health care quality.

“The report is simply deficient when it comes to understanding the basic role of a Critical Access Hospital within a rural community,” said Alan Morgan, National Rural Health Association CEO. “The current quality measurement systems available do not adequately reflect the core work of what rural hospitals do on a daily basis.” One of the major problems with the JAMA article is the assumption that CAHs would keep the sickest patients. CRHC recognizes that the sick patients a CAH keeps are those refusing to go to a network hospital or wanting only comfort care measures.

CLICK HERE to view the Flex Team's response to the JAMA report. This study highlights the need for CAHs to create their own story. No longer is it acceptable to keep quality improvement data internally, this data must be shared externally to showcase patient safety and quality improvement outcomes. T

Another interesting response to the JAMA report, Measuring Rural Healthcare Health, by Robert Bowman M.D., is available HERE.

Last fall, CRHC kicked off a quality improvement program called iCARE (Improving Communications and Readmissions). The iCARE project focuses on improving data related to heart failure and pneumonia, reducing readmissions, and improving the communications within the hospital and with other community partners such as EMS, the clinics and urban transfer facilities. Participating hospitals have agreed to collect CMS core measure data for heart failure and pneumonia and submit that to “Hospital Compare.”

Beginning in September 2011, the Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) will kick off their focused framework for CAHs and State Offices of Rural Health. This is currently a three-year initiative to create a national database for benchmarking purposes and to inform the President as well as other federal officials on how well CAHs perform in quality improvement. With budget concerns at an all-time high, CRHC urges all CAHs to engage and commit by submitting data to Hospital Compare and by agreeing to grant ORHP access to that data. Please visit the MBQIP for a three-minute video that explains these efforts. The consent forms are available here .

CRHC recognizes and congratulates Colorado CAHs for over 10 years of work on quality improvement activities, including the Quality Network, 100,000 Lives Campaign, 5 Million Lives Campaign, Quality Health Indicators (QHi) Benchmarking, and iCARE.

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy at One Year - New Video and Implementation Update

One year ago today (July 13, 2010) the White House released the National HIV/AIDS Strategy – our country's first roadmap to addressing the domestic epidemic.

In recognition of this important milestone, the White House has developed a video in which doctors, researchers, policy makers, community leaders, and advocates discuss the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. It has also released an implementation update to keep you informed on the latest work and provide some reflections on key first-year achievements.

Video: here   Implementation update report

DORA Regulatory Notice - State Board of Health - Ch.IV General Hospitals & Ch.IX Community

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has submitted a draft proposed rule or amendment to Chapter IV and Chapter IX. Specifically, the proposed amendments to Chapter IX - Community Clinics and Community Clinics and Emergency Centers: 1) authorize certain types of community clinics to become off-campus locations of a general hospital; 2) amend provisions regarding inpatient care; 3) exempt federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics from licensure requirements in accordance with state statute; 4) clarify services to be provided by community clinics and emergency centers; and 5) make technical changes including but not limited to updating obsolete references, changing terminology, and reorganizing provisions. The proposed amendments to Chapter IV - General Hospitals: 1) authorize community clinics added to the hospital license as off-campus locations to meet either "existing" or "new" occupancy requirements under the Life Safety Code; 2) exempt off-campus locations from plan review if added to the hospital license by a specified date; and 3) make conforming amendments to align with changes made in Chapters IV and IX regarding off-campus locations. The proposed amendments are available here under "Notices of Upcoming Public Rulemaking Hearings and Draft Proposed Rules" and may also be found by: clicking here. A hearing on the proposed amendment is set for Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10:00 am at CDPHE, Bldg. A, Sabin-Cleere Conference Room, 4300 Cherry Creek Drive, South, Denver CO 80246. For more information, contact Lorraine Dixon-Jones, Policy Analyst at 303-692-2889 at CDPHE. To provide feedback on the proposed amendment, please email opr@dora.state.co.us before July 24, 2011.

Patient Advocacy Webinar

April 12, 2011  12:00 to 1:30 pm ET Championing Patient Safety:   The Role of the Patient Advocate

The program is approved for 1.5 contact hours for nurses, social workers and case managers. $145 for PPAI Members and $329 for Nonmembers

Register Online »

The facts are clear: medical errors wreak havoc on our patients. Every year, hundreds of thousands of patients are harmed or die due to unsafe care, or they are injured inadvertently when seeking healthcare. But it doesn't have to be you – or your patient.

The first step in improving patient safety is to understand the magnitude of the problem in hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation hospitals or other settings throughout the continuum of care. After which, you can devise smart intervention strategies.

As one of the roles of today's patient advocates, educating and empowering patients to ensure safe encounters with the healthcare system is of paramount importance.

This training session from the Professional Patient Advocate Institute brings together a leading faculty who will share their insight into improving patient safety from both the individual and organizational level.

By attending the webinar you will learn:

• The definition of patient safety.
• Overview of patient safety in today's healthcare system.
• How to ensure a safe encounter with a member of the healthcare team.
• What tools and resources are available for patient education to learn about the role of the patient and family in preventing a medical error.
• The role of the hospital patient advocate in preventing medical errors – and the follow up should errors occur.
• Ways to learn about how hospitals and other settings rank regarding patient safety.
• Strategies that hospitals, organizations and individuals are leading to improve patient safety.

More About the Webinar

Patient safety is a major concern for all involved in healthcare. Also, challenges in patient safety manifest in many ways. Here are some examples:

One in five Americans (22%) report that they or a family member have experienced a medical error of some kind, according to The Commonwealth Fund. Nationally, this translates into an estimated 22.8 million people with at least one family member who experienced a mistake in a doctor's office or hospital.

According to the CDC, in American hospitals alone, hospital-acquired infections account for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths each year.

At any given time, 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from infections acquired in hospitals, according to the World Health Organization. Hand hygiene is the most essential measure for reducing healthcare-associated infection and the development of antimicrobial resistance.

Surgery is one of the most complex health interventions to deliver. More than 100 million people require surgical treatment every year for different medical reasons. Problems associated with surgical safety in developed countries account for half of the avoidable adverse events that result in death or disability, according to the World Health Organization.

Join us April 12th to learn more about patient safety and the Patient Advocate’s role in handling this issue.

Webinar: Preparing to Engage with Legislators & Policymakers

Thursday, January 13, 2011; 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET
You are invited to participate in NOSORH’s webinar, Preparing to Engage with Legislators & Policymakers.  Topics include:

• Learn how to educate elected officials
• Tell your story: SORH talking points and messages for legislators
• What you can do: Planned Capitol Hill visits and contacts with key legislators and staff
• Discussion

To register, click here, then click the "Register" button, fill out the registration form, and click "Submit".

President Obama Signs the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010

On Wednesday, December 15, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 (MMEA). This new law prevents a scheduled payment cut for physicians who treat Medicare patients from taking effect. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is pleased that this law has addressed key issues for beneficiaries and providers and we are actively engaged in implementing these changes.

CMS is also working to implement several important new provisions for Medicare beneficiaries made possible by the Affordable Care Act – the health reform law. In 2011:

• Beneficiaries who reach the prescription drug coverage gap, known as the donut hole, will receive a 50 percent discount when buying Part D-covered brand-name prescription drugs.
• Virtually all Medicare beneficiaries are eligible to receive many free preventive care services and a free annual wellness visit.

These provisions will improve care for Medicare beneficiaries and we encourage you to share this information with your patients. More information on these Affordable Care Act provisions can be found at Medicare.gov and at healthcare.gov. This site also contains a timeline and other key information about the new law and a highly praised insurance finder for coverage options in public and private insurance programs, which family members and friends of Medicare beneficiaries may find useful.

Excellence in Mental Health Act Introduced in U.S. Senate

Senators Stabenow and Reed introduced the Excellence in Mental Health Act which would require the federal government to establish criteria for an organization to qualify as a “Community Behavioral Health Center” (CBHC), to be reimbursed at a minimum rate — based on reasonable cost per visit incurred — for services provided to Medicaid patients. The act also calls for grants for capital improvements and HIT and services provided by CBHCs to be recognized as mandatory in state Medicaid programs. For more information, click here.

2011 Public Policy Agenda from the Colorado Health Professions Workforce Policy Collaborative

The Colorado Health Professions Workforce Policy Collaborative has released their 2011 Public Policy Agenda, which is an update to the 2010 document--the first of its kind. This year's version includes policy changes from last year, newly available data and plicy analysis, and the ongoing inter-professional dialogue among members and participants of the Collaborative.

• Download the 2011 Public Policy Agenda

Coverage and Access after Health Care Implementation: How will Colorado Communities Respond?

October 18, 2010; 8-11:45am

In 2014 the major coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act will be in place. Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans will become newly insured, but more than 100,000 will remain uncovered. What does this mean for local communities and their healthcare systems? How should communities prepare? What types of programs can be put in place to provide access to those not covered and for those who are? Please attend the Bringing Health Home Learning Collaborative Fall Meeting featuring presentations by the Colorado Health Institute on coverage after healthcare reform implementation in 2014 and by Joan Henneberry, executive director of Health Care Policy and Financing, on how communities can prepare.  The event is free but space is limited.

Please RSVP to spo@idcomm.com or phone: 303.520.3642.

Travel Stipends: The Colorado Health Foundation has announced that it will make travel stipends available to make sure that interested persons will not be deterred due to travel cost. If you need this type of support, please email.