Word of the week: Goo Goo. What is that, you may ask? According to the Goo Goo website, "in 1912 Goo Goo Clusters altered what was possible in the world of candy by combining more than one element.” Those elements are milk chocolate, caramel, peanuts and marshmallow nougat.
The candy was imported to the Colorado Health Institute’s kitchen from Nashville this past week by CEO Michele Lueck and Policy Analyst Allie Morgan. They were in Tennessee for a presentation on Colorado’s experience with Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives to lawmakers and health policy administrators from 13 states gathered by the Milbank Memorial Fund. The New York-based foundation is dedicated to bringing together leaders and decision-makers to improve health.
As Goo Goo Clusters are a combination of elements, so too are CHI’s presentations, reports and sponsored meetings on all things health. Here’s what’s going on this week around the office.
Tuesday was a snow day, and that lead to the cancellation of a CHI-hosted discussion on emergency department use. Our panel of experts — Dr. Roberta Capp (University of Colorado), Tracy Johnson (Denver Health), Janet Pogar (Anthem), Nancy Griffith (Colorado Hospital Association), Carol Bruce-Fritz (Community Care Central Colorado) and Gretchen McGinnis (Colorado Access) — had planned to share their views with members of the Better Care, Better Costs, Better Colorado (BC3) group, who have identified reductions in emergency department usage as a key goal. We will reschedule the panel discussion.
Amy Downs, Senior Director for Policy and Analysis, will present findings from the 2015 Colorado Health Access Survey this week to the Denver Medical Review Club and Denver Health. Amy will focus on the top takeaways from this year’s survey. As always, don’t forget that CHI is here to answer your questions about the 2015 CHAS, provide data requests, and make presentations. Email us at CHAS@coloradohealthinstitute.org with your inquiries!
Another SNAC Lab is coming up this Thursday in CHI’s conference room. The luncheon meeting will focus on what we have learned from Medicaid’s Accountable Care Collaborative and what we can expect in the future. Jeff Bontrager, Director of Research on Coverage and Access, will lead the discussion, with presentations from three experts.
The updated Access to Care Index and the accompanying publication, the Children’s Access to Care Index, can be found here. The index, a joint project between CHI and the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, is designed to measure whether the historic drop in uninsured Coloradans is translating into a change in their ability to access health care. You can find the numbers and the analysis, including information specific to Health Statistics Regions, on our website.
The countdown has begun for our Hot Issues in Health Care conference, which will be held at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Englewood, on Monday, December 14. The event will feature a day full of presentations with our experts on the most pressing issues in health care, a panel discussion by Colorado’s experienced lawmakers, and a chance to connect with Colorado's health leaders.
Our keynote speaker, Dr. Alice Rivlin, a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies from the Brookings Institution, will be joining us from Washington D.C. While the conference is sold out, email HIHC@coloradohealthinstitute.org to get your name on the wait list or for any questions!