BIRTHING A CHANGE!
Health Tech 4 Medicaid
We're on a mission to radically change the pace of innovation in Medicaid, improving quality, equity and access to care.
BIRTHING A CHANGE!
In many ways, Spring is a season that evokes change, and we are wildly embracing that temporal transition at Health Tech for Medicaid (HT4M).?The winter hibernation is over, 2nd?quarter of the year has started, and for HT4M, many of our strategic planning and visioning is coming to fruition and ready to be shared with the world for feedback, iteration and collaboration (join us Friday for our new HT4M 101 ecosystem session ).?In the next few months, you will see many of the products and services we have been working on sprout, bloom and “come to life.”??
While this is Medicaid Awareness Month, it is also National Minority Health Month.?As fate would have it, as we are working to keep the rights of the American people with and without uteruses, no matter what assigned or preferred gender, and against these attacks on their freedom and sexual, reproductive and maternal health. As voters in Wisconsin recently showed, this weekend’s news on the single federal judge in Texas is attempting to stop the use of an abortion drug that has been safely used for more than 20 years and the threat of over 30M individuals of age possibly risking medical coverage with Medicaid redetermination on our heels---this fight continues.
But, in light of all of the chaos, I want to celebrate, as well.?This week is Black Maternal Health Week, held annually on April 11-17th, a campaign founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance to build awareness, activism, and community-building to amplify the voices, perspectives and lived experiences of Black Mamas and birthing people. Yesterday marked?International Day for Maternal Health and Rights ?– an opportunity to advocate for the elimination of maternal mortality globally. HT4M is squarely in this global fight and will be convening, learning, sharing and collaborating with our values and traditions of the reproductive and birth justice movements for the diverse population of people covered by Medicaid who face many social, economic, and health challenges that affect their ability to receive timely and high-quality health care.
So, let’s celebrate in honor and on behalf of the voiceless who?have fair or poor health, people of color, single mothers, transgender mothers, low-income individuals, and those who have not completed enough education to afford them economic mobility.?HT4M is fighting with, for and beside you!
Continuously in the fight!
Adimika Arthur
CHECK OUT OUR 2022 WRAP-UP VIDEO
4/13: "Determined to Redetermine" Webinar
Join our webinar,?"Determined to Redetermine: Safety Net Edition"?on?Thursday, April 13th at 9am PST / 12pm EST?to get the latest information on the Medicaid eligibility redetermination process, to explore timelines and provider roles for Medicaid stakeholders, and to discuss how current Medicaid beneficiaries will be impacted.?
Speakers Omolara Thomas, MD, MPH , Founder & CEO of?Melanin & Medicine , and Greg Buchert, MD, MPH , CEO of?GSB Health Management Solutions ?will discuss the importance of updating Medicaid patient contact information and how critical it is to ensure people maintain their healthcare coverage.
During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), Medicaid disenrollment or member “churn” was paused in every state in exchange for enhanced federal funding. However, on December 29, 2022 The Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law, which called for the end of continuous coverage as of March 31, 2023. As States begin resuming Medicaid disenrollment, an estimated 18 million people could lose their Medicaid coverage this year.
In anticipation of the largest healthcare transition since the first open enrollment of the Affordable Care Act, HealthTech 4 Medicaid is dedicated to spotlighting and sharing essential information, insightful resources, and innovative solutions that impact members and stakeholders within the Medicaid ecosystem.
HT4M 101: WELCOME TO THE ECOSYSTEM
Are you interested in learning what it means to be a part of the HT4M community? Looking to get a deeper understanding about the work we do??
Join our?"HT4M 101: Welcome to the Ecosystem + Q&A"?session on?Friday, April 14th at 9am PST / 12pm EST.?Ask us?anything, get to know our organization,?and start making an impact in the HT4M ecosystem!?
We will be holding?HT4M 101?on a monthly basis, so stay tuned for future sessions!
Black Maternal Health Week
Black Maternal Health Week is a week-long campaign founded and led by the?Black Mamas Matter Alliance to build awareness, activism, and community-building to amplify the voices, perspectives and lived experiences of Black mothers and birthing people.
Amidst rising maternal mortality rates driven by institutional racism?and systemic inequities, and ongoing threats to reproductive freedoms and bodily autonomy, including the recent restrictions on mifepristone, Health Tech for Medicaid is dedicated to fighting for sexual and reproductive rights and birthing health equity.?
Judge?Matthew Kacsmaryk's decision to ban mifepristone is extremely dangerous. Not only will it strip millions of women of the ability to safely end their pregnancies, but will disproportionately affect people of color and those in marginalized and rural communities who already lack access to the full spectrum of reproductive health services. Abortion is healthcare, and HT4M is committed to fighting for abortion access.
HT4M @ ViVE 2023
3/26: Telehealth in the Emerging Economy
Health Tech for Medicaid partnered with?Ziegler ?on March 26 to host "Advances in Telehealth in the Emerging Economy," featuring Adimika Arthur , Executive Director of Health Tech for Medicaid, Grant Chamberlain , Senior Managing Director at Ziegler, Chris Rogers , Senior Managing Director at Ziegler, and Patrick Walsh , Managing Director at Ziegler.
The event highlighted Ziegler's recent white paper on deconstructing the Telehealth industry, titled?"Health.Virtually.Everywhere," ?focusing on how telehealth and digital health can create unencumbered access for vulnerable populations. Panelists explored tech enabled solutions and virtual engagement as means for creating equitable, inclusive, holistic care that fits into and serves as access points for the most underserved populations, as well as touching on issues of diversity in clinical trials and the opportunity for telehealth to support decentralized clinical trials.
Watch the video below:
领英推荐
3/27: The Medicaid Sessions
Health Tech for Medicaid partnered with?California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF) ,?Hopelab Ventures ,?Manatt ,?Medicaid Innovation Collaborative (MiC) ,?StartUp Health ?and?Townhall Ventures ?to host the first installment of?The Medicaid Sessions . The event facilitated the?connection between emerging health tech innovators and Medicaid subject experts to provide companies with?mentorship and access to market strategy,?networking opportunities between founders, and a?better understanding of the Medicaid delivery system, value proposition, and provider and patient needs.
Watch the video below:
3/27: Designing a More Equitable Future of Innovation
Health Tech for Medicaid's Executive Director, Adimika Arthur , moderated an equitable design panel on the Techquity stage featuring? Courtney Richardson , Consultant & Community Engagement Expert of?Rural Opportunity Institute ,? Lauren Collins Scott , Chief of Staff of?IDEO , and?? Chris McCarthy , Founder of?ILN Coaching & Consulting . Speakers?shared their expertise and experience on how to best design, grow, and lead organizations while prioritizing equitable and inclusive work strategies and practices. "We are all designers of something," Adimika Arthur emphasized. The conversation focused on the power of a community based approach and importance of raising the voices of subject matter experts in the community, the need for dynamic solutions that adapt to each population and individual, the idea that organizations should look like their communities, and the need to?reduce harm and explicitly talk about our failures so that we can design better.?
Read Chris McCarthy 's takeaways from the conversation?here .
3/28: Driving Network & Clinical Performance Improvements
Health Tech for Medicaid (HT4M),?COPE Health Solutions , and?CareJourney ?partnered together?to host an interactive event on “Driving Network and Clinical Performance Improvements.” The event aimed to catalyze a collective movement of people pushing for change within their ecosystems and addressing standards around care delivery and what payers, providers, policy makers, entrepreneurs, investors, advocates, and people navigating care delivery need. “We have to completely restructure and redesign how we do work, and get creative to figure out how we can save people’s quality and duration of life,” Adimika Arthur emphasized.?
Watch the video below:
HT4M Joins the Sync for Social Needs Coalition
The?Sync for Social Needs?coalition unites leading health technology companies and health systems?to standardize the sharing of patient data on social determinants of health.
Health Tech for Medicaid has committed to join other participants in collectively evaluating?and piloting the integration of specific social screening tools in electronic medical record systems. In addition, we will commit to working with participants to scale these approaches to further lower clinician burden to screen for social needs.?Participants in the Sync for Social Needs coalition commit to working on developing consensus on standards and piloting real-world testing of an HL7 FHIR-based approach for the collection and sharing of social needs screening results to meet upcoming CMS program requirements.
The coalition will test and refine a standards-based approach for collecting and sharing social needs screening data across different vendor systems and settings.
HEALTH EQUITY HEROES
Our Health Equity Heroes series highlights individuals who have championed health equity. We invite you to nominate an individual who has dedicated their career and work to advancing health equity and creating real, lasting impacts in the lives of marginalized patient populations.?We are proud to recognize our?Health Equity Heroes for their outstanding contributions in promoting health equity and?are thrilled to share the latest accomplishments of?Dr. Camara Jones , MD, PhD, MPH.
We congratulate Dr. Jones for?receiving the 2023 Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award. ?This prestigious award recognizes her significant contributions to the field of health education and health promotion through research, program development, and program delivery. Dr. Jones is a leading voice in confronting racism and promoting social justice in healthcare. Her lecture entitled "Confronting Racism Denial: Tools and Habits of Mind for Social Justice Warriors" is an important call to action for all those committed to achieving health equity. We are honored to highlight Dr. Jones and grateful for her tireless efforts to promote health equity.
Check out our?Twitter ?for highlights on each of our heroes, the incredible work they are doing to advance health equity, and their calls to action to advance health equity!
Nominate a Health Equity Hero below!
LAUNCHING OUR MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN
We're Launching Our 2023?Member Campaign!?
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By converging with?diverse experts and leaders,?HT4M paves the channel for change. HT4M?provides members with opportunities?to?gain a greater?understanding?of the Medicaid ecosystem,?influence?the future of Medicaid innovation, and collectively?inspire?with the community?to tackle some of the greatest problems in healthcare.??With our mission in mind, becoming an?HT4M member can be of benefit beyond your organization.
HT4M'S UNDERREPRESENTED FOUNDER DATABASE
Are you an underrepresented founder or?entrepreneur??At HT4M, we are expanding our database to highlight and support underrepresented BBIPOC*, LGBTQIA+**, women and gender-diverse health tech founders and entrepreneurs.?Since last year, we have included nearly 500 founders in our database. Our platform gives visibility to leaders, as well as building?and cultivating relationships within the health tech industry for?those serving vulnerable populations. If you would like to increase your visibility as an underrepresented founder, please fill out the form below.
Loved the deep dive in February's newsletter on the impact of behavioral health initiatives from 2023! It's amazing to see how much progress we've made in just a year. Here's to more breakthroughs and support in 2024! ?? #BehavioralHealthAwareness