public health
Only 15% of CT Medicaid smokers are getting medications to help quit
An article in this month’s Health Affairs estimates that only 15% of CT’s 102,000 Medicaid adults who smoke are getting medications to help them quit. While this is better than the 10% US average, there is a lot of room to improve. 31% of adults in our state’s Medicaid program smoke, about twice the rate…
Read MoreCT teen birthrate down 11% last year
New data on births rates from the CDC finds that last year, as in 2013, CT had the third lowest teen birth rate among states. In both 2013 and 2014, MA and NH had the lowest and second lowest teen birth rates, respectively, across all states. CT’s 2014 teen birth rate dropped by 10.9% from…
Read MoreBriefing focuses on CT nurses’ role in improving population health
The CT Nursing Collaborative-Action Coalition held a briefing today on Building a Culture of Health in Hartford with the CT League for Nursing and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Sue Hassmiller from RWJ briefed the audience on the critical role of prevention and population-based services in improving health and the central role of nurses in…
Read MoreCT tied for fifth among states in health system performance
CT’s health system performs better than 45 other states according to the 2015 Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard on State Health System Performance. We improved on eight metrics, but lost ground on four. States are ranked on 42 indicators such as avoidable hospitalizations, health risk behaviors, childhood vaccinations, and hospital patients discharged with information to…
Read MoreCommunity Care Teams addressing high-cost Medicaid member needs
Friday’s MAPOC Complex Care Committee meeting focused on Community Care Teams (CCTs) that collaborate across social service to help people with complex health problems. So far, seven CT communities are developing or already operating CCTs that focus on frequent ED visitors. The CCT teams include hospitals, behavioral health and primary care providers with community resources…
Read MoreAugust web quiz on family caregiving in Connecticut
Test your knowledge of family caregiving in Connecticut. Take the August CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreAdvocates’ guide to underservice recommendations
SIM is seeking to radically transform our state’s $30 billion health system and has chosen a shared savings payment model for those reforms. Advocates are concerned about incentives to deny necessary care under the new payment model, as happened in the past. SIM’s Equity and Access Council was charged with developing protections to limit and…
Read MoreCare delivered by CT family members worth $5.9 billion, but capacity is uncertain
In 2013 almost half a million CT residents provided 427 million hours of unpaid critical health care services to family members according to an updatedreport by AARP. The value of that care was $5.9 billion, about what CT spends on Medicaid in total. Family care is expanding and becoming a vital piece of our health…
Read MoreWebinar online – Caring for high-need patients – Lessons for CT
Evidence is growing that we cannot fix our health care system without addressing the needs of the small number of patients with very complex and costly health problems. Connecticut can learn from other programs across the US as we build reforms for our state and our Medicaid program. On this week’s webinar we heard from…
Read MoreMay web quiz on CT adult health risk factors
Test your knowledge of health risks among CT adults. Take the May CT Health Policy Webquiz.
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