How CT can support the professionals who support patients
How CT can support the professionals who support patients
A new brief by the CT Health Foundation highlights the value of trained health support professions and recommendations for sustainable funding. The brief outlines evidence that including support professionals in care teams improve health outcomes and patient experience of care, especially for underserved populations. Engaging them in care could improve public health, reduce health disparities, and control costs.
Health support professions include:
- Community health workers – connect people to care and help them manage their health conditions
- Doulas – support people through pregnancy, delivery, and post-partum
- Recovery coaches – engage people with substance use disorder and help toward recovery
- Peer support specialists – engage people with mental illness and help them achieve long term recovery
All four health support professions provide patient-centered goal planning, culturally-appropriate health education and information, individual coaching, social support, connections to services and supports, advocacy for patients and communities and help develop self-advocacy skills, and mediate between individuals, communities, medical care and social service systems. They have shared experience with the populations they serve.
Voluntary certification for all four health support professions in available in Connecticut. Some employers require certification to hire health support professionals. Medicaid pays for, or is in the process of implementing payment for, all four professions in some roles.
Recommendations to for health support professional sustainable funding include:
- Take advantage of new federal payment codes social specific to these professions to assess and address social needs
- Ensuring Medicaid and private insurer payments for health support professional services
- Support recruitment of professionals from underserved communities
- Continue to fund education of health support professionals
- Consider how these professionals can add value when drafting public policy and budgets