Safety Net Initiative

In September 2004, the Health Funders Partnership was approached to head a county-wide effort around strengthening the healthcare safety net in Orange County. Over forty organizations came to the table and have participated in the convening process since inception. The mission of the Safety Net Coalition is to:

• Create a coordinated, appropriate system to provide access to local community-based health care services to the vulnerable population to improve the overall health of the community;
• Avert undue costs of delayed or denied care; and
• Advocate for a sustainable, comprehensive, coordinated system that includes all providers.

At the initial convening, the coalition identified four areas in which to initiate systemic change and thereby enhance the Safety Net:

• The creation of a specialist physician network
• The provision of insurance for every child in the county
• The realignment of tax allocations to the county
• The development of an advocacy program to increase the support for safety net services and providers

Subsequently, four committees were formed to address these issues.

AccessOC: Linda Haghi joined AccessOC in May 2007 as Executive Director and is reviewing and prioritizing models in use nation-wide to provide access specialty care. These include such programs as e-referrals, telemedicine programs, virtual and actual specialty hubs. The first phase of this access to specialty care imitative focused on providing elective, low-risk, out-patient surgical procedures, a program modeled after "Operation Access" in Northern California. In this model, doctors and medical staff volunteer their services and hospital facilities are donated. The inaugural "Super-Surgery Saturday" was held on May 19 at the Kaiser Permanente SurgiCenter in Irvine. Over $70,000 in care was donated for eight patients who received much-needed surgeries that improved their quality of life and ability to work. St. Jude Medical Center hosted the second very successful event on November 19, 2007 and another $80,000 in care was donated for the nine patients who received life-changing surgeries. To date, over 250 surgical referrals have been received by the program. Additional surgery days are being planned at Kaiser Permanente, Hoag Hospital Presbyterian, and St. Jude Medical Center. CalOptima, Pacific Life Foundation, Irvine Health Foundation, The California Endowment and Kaiser Permanente are major contributors to this initiative.

For more information, please visit www.accessoc.org

Children's Health Initiative: The Children's Health Initiative was formalized in spring 2006 with the hiring of Mary Jo Hooper as Executive Director. A major part of the initiative is the 100% School Campaign, where every child in school is enrolled in an insurance plan. "Healthy Kids", a comprehensive insurance product for those not eligible for existing programs, was developed by CalOptima and the first children were enrolled in the plan in December 2006. 100% School Campaigns have been successfully completed in over twenty schools and more are currently underway. To date more than 266,000 children have been insured through combined county-wide efforts. St. Joseph Health System Foundation, St. Joseph Hospital, St. Jude Medical Center, Mission Hospital, Irvine Health Foundation, Orange County United Way, CalOptima, and Kaiser Permanente have been major contributors to this initiative.

For more information, please visit www.chioc.org

Revenue Enhancement: The objectives of this committee are to maximize existing revenue; identify new sources of revenue; and motivate/engage local groups and organizations to involve themselves in the legislative process. In response to SB1448, an application was submitted to the state for Coverage Initiative funds. Orange County was one of 10 counties to be funded. The county will receive $16.9 million per year for three years, beginning in September 2007. An additional $3 million will be awarded for administration of the program. The implementation of the Coverage Initiative will include the following significant changes to the existing Orange County Health Care Agency's MSI (Medical Services for Indigents) program: medical homes for all MSI patients; expanded coverage to include 3,000 more patients per month; both preventive and primary care; an upgraded quality improvement program; and an expanded electronic information system. Additionally, $300,000 was transferred to the state through an intergovernmental transfer. It was requested that these funds will be equally distributed between Western Medical Center and Children's Hospital of Orange County. The Children & Families Commission, Irvine Health Foundation, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and Kaiser Permanente have been major contributors to this initiative.

Advocacy: The focus of this committee is to create a "seismic shift" in the way the community at large thinks about health care. The committee is moving forward with a survey to key stakeholders in the county to determine the level of knowledge about the health care safety net. The results of this survey will serve as the base for a targeted public relations message.