Oct 29, 2018, 2:00 PM, Posted by
Andrea Ducas, Tricia McGinnis
Medicaid is the largest health care program in the United States and impacts the lives of more than 76 million Americans, nearly one-quarter of the nation’s population. The program can play a powerful role in influencing the health and well-being of individuals and families.
State Medicaid programs can only be truly successful, however, if they are responsive to the needs and priorities of the clients they serve—not providers, but patients and their families. Medicaid officials understand this. However, in the resource- and time-constrained environments in which Medicaid staff operate, finding the right avenues for gathering meaningful consumer input can be a challenge.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been trying to address these challenges through its work to transform health and health care systems. As part of these efforts, the Foundation along with the Center for Health Care Strategies recently engaged experts, including representatives from across the patient advocacy world, around this issue. These experts include leaders from Altarum, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Community Catalyst, Georgetown Center for Children and Families, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and the Patient Advocate Foundation.
View full post
Dec 7, 2015, 8:00 AM, Posted by
Andrea Ducas
What would your ideal future look like? For me and my colleagues at the Foundation, it would be one where everyone has the opportunity to live the healthiest life they can.
An unfortunate reality in this country, however, is that while we continue to realize substantial gains in health, the things that help people become and stay healthy are not evenly distributed across states or even metropolitan areas. Access to healthy foods, opportunities for exercise, good-paying jobs, good schools, and high quality health care services may be readily available in one area, and difficult to come by or nonexistent in another just a few miles away.
Sometimes the differences are particularly stark: In some communities, two children growing up just a short subway or car ride apart could be separated by a 10-year difference in life expectancy.
So how do we square this reality with the Culture of Health we’re working hard with others to build? An important first step is recognizing those disparities and what’s driving them, and ensuring that people in communities across America have strategies – and the data – they can use to proactively close health gaps.
Let’s use Oklahoma, and within it the city of Tulsa, as an example.
View full post
Mar 31, 2015, 10:22 AM, Posted by
Andrea Ducas
When it comes to how health care providers are paid, change is in the air. I’m probably more excited than most people about trying to make sure our financial incentives are flowing the right way within the health care system. Here’s why.
View full post
Aug 1, 2014, 4:29 PM, Posted by
Andrea Ducas
View full post
Jul 22, 2013, 4:15 PM, Posted by
Andrea Ducas
View full post