Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS)

The Advancing Health Equity Learning Collaborative is seeking applicants for the next cohort of the collaborative, which will include five teams comprised of Medicaid agencies, managed care organizations, and health care provider organizations or systems. The learning collaborative will help teams develop shared equity priorities, uncover the drivers of disparities in their member populations, and create payment models to support equity-focused care transformation.

This Better Care Playbook profile of the SASH model is part of an ongoing series, In the Field: Spotlight on Complex Care Interventions, that is highlighting how organizations are implementing evidence-based and promising innovations to improve care for people with complex health and social needs.

Patient and staff-reported measures are a key way to assess the quality and experience of care for people with complex needs. CHCS worked with health care organizations to test new measures for understanding patient and staff experiences related to well-being, equity, goals of care, and care integration. This brief explores insights from the Center for the Urban Child and Healthy Family at Boston Medical Center, Hill Country Community Clinic, and Denver Health, which used these measures to assess quality within their organizations.

CHCS has announced a nine-month leadership development program designed to support a cohort of senior Medicaid leaders in developing skills to lead a complex organization like Medicaid, as well as improve outcomes for enrollees by enhancing state capacity. The Medicaid Pathways aims to help Medicaid leaders who are new to their leadership role and/or are interested in advancing to a more senior role in the future, especially individuals with diverse backgrounds, including people of color, people with disabilities, and individuals with personal experience with Medicaid or another publicly financed program.

CHCS has published a new tool to assist states in planning and implementing a Master Plan for Aging (MPA). A MPA is a cross-sector, state-led strategic planning resource that can help states transform the infrastructure and coordination of services for their aging population and people with disabilities. This tool outlines core principles to guide the MPA development process and shares best practices for cross-sector MPA development through state examples.

Several states are seeking ways to effectively address the health, economic, and social challenges experienced by family caregivers, especially those from marginalized communities. This brief outlines practical strategies to identify and reach family caregivers used by cross-sector state teams participating in Helping States Support Families Caring for an Aging America, a CHCS initiative made possible by The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

To best meet the health-related needs of Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries, and address equity within these programs and services, Medicaid leaders should reflect the varied populations they serve. Medicaid leaders are more likely to relate to the needs and challenges of their members when they share the identities of enrollees. This blog post and infographic from CHCS highlight key strategies for diversifying the Medicaid leadership pipeline, drawing from a CHCS report developed with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

This brief outlines lessons from the Center for Health Care Strategies’ MassHealth Care Planning Learning Collaborative, where Massachusetts Accountable Care Organizations and Community Partners integrated care planning across their organizations to improve care for Medicaid members with complex needs. This brief can inform providers, payers, and community partners in other states seeking to improve care for people with complex health and social needs.

This brief explores California’s experiences using a Master Plan for Aging (MPA) to respond to unexpected challenges and opportunities. It also examines how California used their MPA to use state-led programs to address health equity. The brief looks at some of the other benefits of using an MPA including building relationships with a variety of stakeholders, government agencies, and the public. The brief is intended to provide information on California’s experiences with an MPA to help other states build support for developing an MPA.

At a recent Medicaid Pathways Program (MPP) meeting, Estelle Richman, CHCS board chair, shared some valuable lessons from her 30+ years’ experience as a public servant at the federal, state, and local level. Estelle has held several positions, including Chief Operating Officer at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia’s Commissioner of Public Health.