This week is the sixth annual Safety Net Clinic Week, dedicated to educating the public about Colorado’s Community Safety Net Clinics and Rural Health Clinics. Here at CHI, our team will be publishing several materials, including an update of our Safety Net Database, providing contact information for clinics across the state.
CHI also will publish an interactive map of Colorado’s safety net clinic locations and information. The map allows users to search for nearby clinics, click on clinic locations to learn more about one, and filter clinics by type. Additional statewide and Denver metro maps will be available for print.
Additionally, CHI is taking an up-close look at how Colorado’s oral health safety net is working in the post-Medicaid expansion era. The report, “Working Without a Net: Understanding the Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Colorado’s Oral Health Safety Net,” examines recent trends, organizational needs and demands, and ways Colorado can strengthen the oral health safety net. Look for the map and the oral health report later this week.
Sarah McClelland, a summer intern in her final week at CHI, is presenting to the staff this week on her project on physician-aided dying. Legislation around this topic was introduced earlier this year at the state Capitol. The proponents note that patients have the right to determine what is best for them, but there is a heated moral argument surrounding potential policy change. Sarah’s work focuses on what this potential change would mean for Colorado.
Brian Clark, manager of creative services at CHI, will be sharing his expertise on visual communication in the health care field Thursday at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. His talk will focus on how visual communication has become a vital component of health care communications, including infographics, interactive mapping, human stories, social media campaigns and other communication avenues.
Finally, it is a big week for the Colorado Health Access Survey team as we are gearing up to publish the 2015 results. . The survey is full of fresh data from 2015 covering information on health insurance coverage, access to health care, and how health care is used in Colorado.
The data will be fully released the first week of September over the course of four public events. Here’s the link to sign up for one of them. CHI is hosting a contest to guess the new uninsured rate in Colorado. The winner will receive an Apple Watch. Everyone else will get survey results with the most comprehensive look to date in any state at the effects of the Affordable Care Act. Don’t miss the debut in September.