Community Care Hub Task Force
A Community Care Hub (CCH) is a community-focused entity that organizes and supports a network of community-based organizations providing services to address health-related social needs. A CCH centralizes administrative functions and operational infrastructure, including but not limited to, contracting with healthcare organizations, payment operations, management of referrals, service delivery fidelity and compliance, technology, information security, data collection, and reporting. (Community Care Hubs: Making Social Care Happen).
A CCH has trusted relationships with and understands the capacities of local community-based and healthcare organizations and fosters cross-sector collaborations that practice community governance with authentic local voices. (Community Care Hubs: What Evidence-Based Program Providers Need to Know)
To evaluate the interest of establishing a CCH in La Plata County, the LPHIC Community Care Hub task force produced and shared with LPHIC members a proposal that described, in general terms, what a CCH is and how it operates. A quantitative online questionnaire (18 questions) and a qualitative key informant interview question-set (11 open-ended questions) were developed to gather data from existing community-based organizations and healthcare providers about their current care coordination practices, methods and capacity, as well as their opinions and perspectives on successes, gaps and the potential of a CCH to improve navigation across the health and social services landscape of La Plata County. A summary report from the study is now available for review.
Plan for Aging Task Force
According to census data and projections, roughly 29% of the La Plata County population is 60 years and older. This size of this population is projected to grow over the next two decades. The Plan for Aging task force has begun working on creating a “Plan for Aging” for La Plata County that addresses the infrastructure and care-coordination needs of our expanding aging population. The emphasis will be on the continuum of care including skilled nursing, dementia, Alzheimer’s, behavioral health, long-term care, palliative care, hospice care, medical aid in dying, etc.
The task force is currently gathering La Plata County demographic and healthcare utilization data and has begun reviewing efforts from other Colorado communities to develop Plans for Aging. Over the next few months, the task force will release a report summarizing its findings and outlining a process for community stakeholders to collaborate on developing and adopting a county-wide Plan for Aging.
Specific action plan goals for this task force include:
- Gather demographic data about the aging population in La Plata County (LPC).
- Review published tools and approaches for creating a Plan for Aging and/or Age-Friendly Community designation.
- Develop a proposal and strategic plan for convening stakeholders in LPC to create a Plan for Aging.
- Facilitate the creation of a Plan for Aging per the strategic plan.
Healthcare Workforce Recruitment & Retention Task Force
“Healthcare and social assistance” represents the second largest employment sector in La Plata County (behind government). This task force is working to identify strategies to positively impact local healthcare workforce recruitment and retention efforts and support local workforce housing initiatives.
Specific action plan goals for this task force include:
- Gather demographic data about the healthcare workforce in La Plata County.
- Gather qualitative and quantitative data about the experience (and initiatives) of local healthcare employers in recruiting healthcare providers and workforce.
- Gather qualitative and quantitative data about employee turnover.
- Establish method to track and report on provider availability.
Reproductive Healthcare Services Task Force
The purpose of this task force is to evaluate the demand for and availability of reproductive health services in La Plata County in order to identify gaps and explore opportunities to meet the needs of our community for those services not provided by Mercy.
Specific action plan goals for this task force include:
- Document the population demographics of La Plata County, coupled with the provider availability, to estimate the current and future demand for reproductive healthcare services.
- Conduct key informant interviews of Mercy & non-Mercy providers.
- Survey experience of community members in the reproductive age group (18-44).
- Explore options in our community to address gaps, if any, identified from above.
Healthcare Literacy & Advocacy Task Force
This task force is focused on creating and expanding existing community resources to assist residents with navigating health insurance options, costs and coverage, understanding patient’s rights, and dealing with medical billing accuracy and health insurance coverage and claims issues. Our aim is to also help community members find resources for financial assistance to cover healthcare costs, provide assistance with health insurance enrollment and troubleshooting, and improve knowledge of how to determine if treatments and procedures are necessary.
Specific action plan goals for this task force include:
- Gather demographic data about the healthcare literacy and advocacy programs currently available in La Plata County.
- Evaluate healthcare literacy and advocacy initiatives other communities are successfully using.
- Establish a plan for building, managing and running a Literacy & Advocacy program(s) in LPC.
Housing, Transportation & Childcare Task Force
Recognizing that housing, transportation and childcare issues can serve as barriers to healthcare access, this task force will focus on developing, supporting and/or strengthening initiatives and collaborations that address these social determinants of health. Members of this task force are participating in and/or leading the following efforts:
- Regional Transit Coordinating Council (RTC)
- Early Childhood Council of La Plata County
- Regional Housing Alliance (RHA) STEER Committee
- Good Food Collective
Community Healthcare Dashboard Task Force
This task force will provide consultation and support to Local First on their plans to develop a Web-based “dashboard” that tracks, monitors and reports on a variety of local healthcare indicators. The purpose of the initiative is to report on the performance of our local healthcare, assess healthcare value and identify opportunities for improvement, and inform and guide community-wide assessment, planning, and action.
Interoperability Task Force
This task force will focus on providing an overview of options for medical providers to securely share patient data to improve and expedite care delivery. Information will be gathered and a report will be developed to support local providers in improving adoption and utilization of the available tools.