Quote from McKinnon, Sr. Communications Manager on July 3, 2018, 6:50 pm

 

Members –

 

As Central Health and its partners expand services in Eastern Travis County, we continue to work to address the underlying issues that affect the health of the people we serve.  These efforts include how we enable partnerships with non-clinical providers that provide important social, human, and life resources. 

 

The purpose of this informational post is two-fold.  First, the post presents criteria that the Central Health management team will use to guide our work with clinical and non-clinical service providers.  Second, we are soliciting feedback and insight from the Central Health Strategic Planning Committee via the Message Board. 

 

The criteria for partnerships include:

• Mission alignment between Central Health, clinic operators, and affiliated service organizations

• Determine whether a Central Health Enterprise organization is already providing or funding the proposed service

• Plans on how future services will integrate into clinical operations, including reimbursement models and incorporation of services into the health care experience

• History with the population to be served, including past projects, program management, and direct services provided with demonstrated outcomes/success

• Diversity of the organization’s leadership and how the diversity aligns with the people we serve; including cultural competency in serving the diverse population of MAP and sliding fee scale patients

• Checks and balances to ensure services provided by Travis County, the City of Austin, or other cities and organizations within Travis County are not duplicated.  Local government partners have strong human service programs that could always be better utilized by Central Health and its clinical partners. We will need to define Central Health's role in funding nonclinical initiatives that both fills a gap in the larger social service network and supports our mission

• Understanding the role that the Central Health Board of Managers will play in forming or funding partnerships.  Develop alignment or consistency with Board’s decision-making role as compared to that of the city, county, etc.

 

The criteria listed above are not exhaustive.  Further, this post is not intended to be a prelude to a Board vote; however, it is the Board’s prerogative to convert these criteria into an official policy. Again, their purpose is to provide insight into how we merge important services with health care and create community driven, patient-centered partnerships. 

We appreciate your review and look forward to your comments.

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