Engaging Community Based Organizations in Health Reform: Challenges, Means and Opportunities

A promising approach to improving population health and reducing health care costs is for health care delivery systems to partner with community-based organizations (CBOs) to deliver non-medical services that address the broader determinants of health. Not only do CBOs provide much needed social services (e.g., related to housing, food, and government programs) that impact health, they have a long history of  successfully engaging vulnerable populations, such as those who are homeless or at risk for homelessness, the elderly, immigrant groups, those with substance use disorders and those with mental illness. Such services not only improve health, but also potentially lower health care costs by decreasing the need for emergency room and hospital use. Yet, precisely how to value the services CBOs provide—and the health care dollars they save—has proven difficult, presenting a challenge to forming sustainable partnerships between health care providers and CBOs.

Keynote speaker Dr. Bruce Chernof will present information on the Linkage Lab, a successful effort in California to prepare CBOs for effective partnerships with health care entities. Panelists will provide further details and examples relevant to New York provider systems, hospitals, community health centers and CBOs.

Bruce Allen Chernof, MD, FACP, currently serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer of The SCAN Foundation, whose mission is to advance a coordinated and easily navigated system of high-quality services for older adults that preserve dignity and independence. The SCAN Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the United States focused entirely on improving the quality of health and life for seniors.

Previously, Dr. Chernof served as the Director and Chief Medical Officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Dr. Chernof has also served as a Regional Medical Director for Medicaid and SCHIP programs at Health Net, a network model HMO.

In 2013, Dr. Chernof served as the Chair of the federal Commission on Long-Term Care, which produced a bipartisan report to Congress recommending reforms for our nation’s long-term care financing, delivery system, and workforce needs.

Dr. Chernof completed his residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine as well as a Fellowship in Medical Education at UCLA. He earned his medical degree from UCLA and completed his undergraduate work at Harvard University. Currently, Dr. Chernof is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at UCLA.

Panelists:
Emily Chen, MA, Program Director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Jamillah Hoy-Rosas, MPH, RD, CDE, Director, Health Coaching and Clinical Partnerships, City Health Works

Deirdre Sekulic, LCSW, Assistant Director of Social Work, Montefiore Medical Center

J. Phillip Thompson, PhD, Associate Professor and Head, Housing, Community and Economic Development Group, School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology