Sixth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations: Main Conference Concurrent Workshops Innovative practices in multicultural health care: 3 years of health plan awards
Start | Browse by Day | Author Index

A-3 Innovative practices in multicultural health care: 3 years of health plan awards

Innovative practices in multicultural health care: 3 years of health plan awards
Monday, September 22, 2008: 10:45 AM-12:15 PM, Minn Marriott, 4th Floor - Pine/Cedar/Birch
Moderator: Jessica Briefer French The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), supported by The California Endowment, has issued awards for three consecutive years in its Recognizing Innovation in Multicultural Health Care Award program. This program publicly recognizes health plans that have implemented measures to improve the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services and reduce health care disparities.
Since the inception of the program, NCQA has awarded 19 health plans for their innovations in multicultural health care. By the time of the DiversityRX 2008 conference, an additional group of award winners will have been recognized. Over three years, more than 127 applications have been received from 67 unique organizations. Several award winners will serve on a panel to discuss their respective organizations' efforts to improve cultural competence or language access, or to reduce disparities. Each panelist will open with a brief description of their organization's award-winning initiatives and then will participate in a moderated discussion to highlight common themes and lessons that will be useful to others engaged in improving care to their underserved populations.
Areas of focus for the award-winning initiatives included using performance data to identify disparities; engaging the community to help improve health plan performance and reduce risks of chronic disease; and implementing new approaches to improve access to, and quality of, language services for members and patients with limited English proficiency. Panelists will share their perspectives on what organizational and environmental factors enabled their success, on some of the challenges they faced and overcame, and on what challenges remain in their organizations’ efforts to improve care to racial and ethnic minorities and people with limited English proficiency.

Themes:

Collaboration/partnership

Community engagement

The language of change

Handouts
  • CLAS Awards - 06 03 2008.pdf (70.7 kB)
  • Applicant summary data 2008.doc (322.0 kB)
  • Initiative summary data 2008.doc (296.0 kB)
  • 2008 Application Review Form.doc (86.0 kB)

    • Presentation Information:

    Program: Main Conference Concurrent Workshops
    Primary Category: Culturally Competent Care
    Subtopics: Access in underserved communities, eg, rural, urban, Disparity reduction, Partnerships with community organizations, Quality improvement, Implementing disparity reduction programs, Organizational assessments, Organizational plans, policies, management strategies, Program/intervention evaluations, Social services, Patient education, Community health education, Translation, Bilingual staff, Interpreter training, assessment and certification, Interpreter services—development and management

    Region Addressed by Presentation: National
    Organization: Managed Care Network
    Population/Demographic: Racial/ethnic minorities, LEP
    Keywords: Best practice, Language access, Cultural competence, Disparities reduction, Health plan


    Website: http://web.ncqa.org/tabid/37/Default.aspx
    Jessica Briefer French, MHSA , Research, NCQA, Washington, DC
      Senior Consultant
      NCQA
      Research
      1100 13th Street, NW Suite 1000
      Washington DC, USA 20005

      Phone: 801-582-0536
      Fax: 202-955-3599
      Email Address: french@ncqa.org

      Biographical Sketch:       Jessica Briefer French, MHSA, Senior Consultant for Research and Analysis at NCQA,is responsible for projects focused on improving care to diverse populations. Ms. French directs projects to develop standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services and disparities reduction, issue annual awards for health plans and provide demonstration grants program for small physician practices that are working to improve care for their minority patients. She is also responsible for the publication of several versions of a guide to quality improvement in multicultural health care. Previously, Ms. French was responsible for the development, implementation and management of human research protection accreditation programs for NCQA. Prior responsibilities have included managing government contracts and grant-funded projects to measure, evaluate and report on health care quality. She has over two decades experience in health care and health care quality management.
    Barrie Baker, MD, MBA , Medical Affairs, Keystone Mercy Health Plan, Philadelphia, PA
      Senior Medical Director
      Keystone Mercy Health Plan
      Medical Affairs
      200 Stevens Drive
      Philadelphia PA, USA 19113

      Phone: 215-863-5864
      Fax: 215-937-5030
      Email Address: Barriebaker@amerihealthmercy.com

      Biographical Sketch:       Barrie Baker, M.D., M.B.A., is a Senior Medical Director for Keystone Mercy Health Plan, a Medicaid HMO in Pennsylvania. Prior to joining KMHP, she helped develop and was Medical Director of the Reading Health Dispensary, a multidisciplinary inner-city health center. Before that, she was Medical Director of a 6-practitioner office in North Philadelphia. Dr. Baker graduated from Temple University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. She later returned to school, obtaining her medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in1991 and completing a Family Practice residency in 1994. Dr. Baker also pursued an MBA/Health Administration degree, graduating from Eastern University in June 2003. She regularly lectures and writes on the issue of Minority Health disparities -- a problem she has encountered throughout her medical career. Her articles have been published in local newspapers as well as national medical and trade magazines. She has spoken throughout the country on health disparities, healthcare literacy, and other topics related to cultural competency. Dr. Baker is a mother of two young children and serves as Treasurer/Secretary of Alternative Decisions, Inc., a non-profit corporation run by her husband, Jimmie Baker, Jr., which is devoted to helping inner city youth make appropriate choices regarding drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and violence.
    Kathryn L. Coltin, MPH , Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Wellesly, MA
      Director, External Quality Data Initiatives
      Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
      93 Worcester Street
      Wellesly MA, USA 02481

      Phone: 617-509-7287
      Fax: 617-509-2042
      Email Address: Kathy_Coltin@harvardpilgrim.org

      Biographical Sketch:       Kathryn L. Coltin, M.P.H is Director, External Quality Data Initiatives at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Ms. Coltin has served on several national advisory committees in the area of health care performance measurement and reporting. She served as a member of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics for eight years, chairing its Quality of Care Workgroup. Ms. Coltin has led Harvard Pilgrim’s initiatives to identify and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in health care since 1998 and serves as their representative to the National Health Plan Collaborative on Reducing Racial/Ethnic Disparities. She served on the Massachusetts Medicaid Disparities Policy Roundtable on designing performance incentives for reducing racial/ethnic disparities in the MA Medicaid program. She currently serves on the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Finding Answers: Disparities Solutions for Change” program, the Sounding Board for the Disparities Solution Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and the NCQA Cultural and Linguistic Access Standards Advisory Committee. Ms. Coltin holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from Boston University. She completed pre-doctoral course work in the Joint Program for Advanced Studies in Health Policy of Boston University and Brandeis University.
    See more of: Innovative practices in multicultural health care: 3 years of health plan awards
    See more of: Main Conference Concurrent Workshops