New Projects, Local Panels, National Presentations

New projects are popping up here at the Colorado Health Institute as the weather warms up and the legislature winds down.

Policy Analyst Jessica Fern is leading the 2015 “Reaching Our Peak” project, the annual scorecard which measures the impact of policies, programs and politics on the goal of better health for all Coloradans.

We had a great time today in her planning meeting as Jessica told us about the five innovative projects across the state that we’ll be highlighting in the report. So stay tuned for the release of Reaching Our Peak later this summer. We are determined to make it the best ever.

Across the office, analysts are drafting proposals to make presentations at the 2015 Public Health in the Rockies Conference in September. Sara Schmitt, Director of Community Health Policy, is leading this effort. The annual conference – this year it’s in Vail – is a wonderful venue to let people know about our work.

Meanwhile, CEO Michele Lueck is preparing to serve as a panelist next week at a session sponsored by the National Governors Association on behalf of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. The gathering in Baltimore is titled “The Next Wave of Innovation: A Convening of Round 1 and Round 2 SIM Awardees.”

Michele will be discussing Colorado’s SIM focus on integrating behavioral health and primary care.

And on Thursday, some members of the CHI team will be attending the 2015 Engaged Benefit Design Conference hosted by Engaged Public.

Amy Downs, Senior Director for Policy and Analysis, will be speaking on a panel and describing the lessons learned from CHI’s evaluation of the Engaged Benefit pilot program at San Luis Valley Health in Alamosa.

CHI analyzed the impacts of patient decision aids which provide patients with objective information about the risks, benefits and effectiveness of particular procedures and services.  CHI also analyzed changes to insurance benefits that encouraged patients to use preventive services. Amy will be joined by Russ Johnson, then-CEO of San Luis Valley Health and Tiffanie Hoover of San Luis Valley Health, who was the local coordinator of the project. 

Finally, our two legislative experts, Joe Hanel and Allie Morgan, are closely watching the legislature as it winds down over the next three weeks. Joe and Allie will be analyzing the health policy implications of the 2015 legislature and preparing our 2015 Legislature in Review publication.