News from the

Foundation for Healthy Communities

   December 2015
Visit us at healthynh.com
In This Issue
Open Enrollment 2016
NH Hospitals Continue Improvements in Patient Safety
NH Health & Equity Partnership
Plan4Health Nashua Hits the Streets

SAVE THE DATE
   

January 27, 2016
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NH Health & Equity Partnership Winter Convening

12:30pm - 4:00pm
Manchester Health Department, 1528 Elm Street, Manchester, NH


April 6, 2016
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration Annual Meeting 

8:00am - 4:00pm
Grappone Conference Center
70 Constitution Ave, Concord, NH 03301
 




   

 

















Quick Links

Join Our Mailing List
Open Enrollment for 2016 Health Insurance Marketplace Ongoing
 
Open enrollment for the 2016 Health Insurance Marketplace is going on now through January 31, 2016.  This year New Hampshire residents seeking insurance or wanting to re-enroll in Marketplace coverage may select a plan from one of five carriers: Anthem, Minuteman, Harvard Pilgrim, Community Health Options and Ambetter.  The NH Insurance Department has detailed information about the options consumers will have in the coming year: 2016 Marketplace Plan HealthCare Networks.

The Foundation for Healthy Communities Marketplace Assister (MPA) Program staff continues to assist hospitals and community organizations to educate consumers about their coverage options and to help them enroll in the Marketplace.  Covering NH publishes a statewide listing of where consumers can go to get Marketplace help.

This year, the Foundation for Healthy Communities Marketplace Assisters are assisting hospital and healthcare partners with the process of becoming a Certified Application Counselor (CAC) through Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS).  A federal CAC designation means an organization may have its staff or volunteers get online training to provide certified Marketplace assistance. Many of the NH organizations that have become CACs were motivated to do so because they saw it as a beneficial service to the community at large, or to the constituents they served.

For assistance with the application process, contact Ann Walls or Dan Walsh at the Foundation for Healthy Communities' Marketplace Assister Program today.
New Hampshire Selected to Continue Improvements in Patient Safety

New Hampshire, as a part of the American Hospital Association/Health Research & Educational Trust Hospital Engagement Network, is a member of one of 17 national, regional, or state hospital associations and health system organizations to continue efforts in reducing preventable hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions. 

The Foundation for Healthy Communities, who leads the NH Hospital Engagement Network, is one of 34 state-based organizations representing 1,500 hospitals throughout the country.   The Partnership for Patients initiative is a nationwide public-private collaboration that aims to reduce preventable hospital-acquired conditions by 40% and 30-day readmissions by 20 percent. New Hampshire will participate in a second round of Hospital Engagement Networks to continue working to improve patient care in the hospital setting. 

New Hampshire is not only expanding the number of targeted hospital acquired conditions as part of the program, it has expanded the number of participating New Hampshire Hospitals to include every acute care hospital in the State and is one of very few states to achieve 100% participation.

The Foundation's Partnership for Patients will bring clinical as well as cultural resources to its hospital partners, including a continuing focus on developing and sustaining a culture dedicated to safety across the board and aggressive engagement of patients and their families in all aspects of medical care.

For more information on the Partnership for Patients and the Hospital Engagement Networks, please visit: partnershipforpatients.cms.gov .
  FHC Honors Southern New Hampshire Medical Center for Patient Engagement Efforts  

The Foundation for Healthy Communities recently honored Southern New Hampshire Medical Center (SNHMC) with its Noah Lord Award for Patient & Family Engagement during the Foundation's annual meeting at the Omni Mount Washington Resort.
 


The Noah Lord Patient & Family Engagement Award recognizes the innovative work being done to better engage patients and families with Patient Family Advisors and Patient and Family Advisory Councils to improve patient safety, quality improvement and the patient experience in a NH hospital system.  Designed to facilitate the sharing of success stories across the state, this award celebrates efforts to create change through improving communication between patients, families and the medical team.

Visit us online for the full press release on the Foundation for Healthy Communities Annual Meeting and award recipients.
 NH Health & Equity Partnership Hosts General Session  

The NH Health and Equity Partnership hosted a convening event on November 15th in Manchester to celebrate the great work done collectively by all the various members of the partnership. NH Health & Equity partners had the opportunity to share their works and initiatives that are advancing our shared vision of seeking a fair opportunity to live a long, healthy life for all.  



We used a World Café conversation model to collect progress on strategic priorities listed in the Plan to Address Health Disparities and Promote Health Equity in NH. These priorities are grouped in 4 areas including:
  • Access to Health Care
  • Addressing Environments Where We Live, Learn, Work and Play to Improve Health
  • Awareness and Promotion of Health Equity
  • Improving Data Collection and Use to Identify Issues.
Our learning in this session will help to inform the next step in our journey as a partnership and determine our shared agenda.  Visit us online to learn more about the NH Health & Equity Partnership, and stay tuned for more information on our upcoming convening on January 27, 2016!
Plan4Health Nashua Hits the Streets
 
M embers of the Plan4Health Nashua coalition met on October 19 to discuss efforts to support Complete Streets in Nashua. The day began on the steps of Nashua's City Hall when 18 community members from various organizations met with Mayor Donnalee Lozeau to discuss the City's efforts to make the streets safer and more accessible for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Matt Makara, Program Manager at the American Public Health Association in Washington, D.C., attended the meeting and was quoted in a  Nashua Telegraph article covering the event: "I feel one of the big successes of the project is that it's having these different groups working together in a non-competitive way," Makara said. "I think Nashua has done a phenomenal job of working together for these common goals."


Members of the Plan4Health Nashua coalition met with Nashua's Mayor on the steps of City Hall to discuss Complete Streets.

Other meeting attendees included representatives from the Nashua Regional Planning Commission (NRPC), City of Nashua, Great American Downtown, YMCA, HEAL NH, Police Athletic League (PAL), New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA), Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua, NeighborWorks, and other community members.

For more information on Plan4Health and their objectives, visit them at    http://healnh.org/plan4healthnashua   .  
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!
Foundation for Healthy Communities