Recently, CHRT has taken on several new projects. 1) to provide support to local Michigan communities as they determine how to maximize the impact of opioid settlement dollars, 2) to gather perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to improve coordination and integration between public health and primary care, 3) to support a new equity center for individuals with disabilities from marginalized communities, and 4) to analyze the impact of Michigan's Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.
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People with disabilities, approximately one in every four Americans, are six times more likely to have ten or more physician visits and five times more likely to be admitted to a hospital. There is a high need for accessible care, but telehealth isn’t always well designed for people with disabilities. In this brief, CHRT describes telehealth opportunities and barriers for people with disabilities. CHRT offers national and state policy suggestions to make telehealth more accessible, functional, and supportive for people with disabilities.
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No one could have anticipated where CHRT is today based on where CHRT began. CHRT has gone through a lot of iterations, making our 15th anniversary truly significant. In this anniversary letter, Des Jardins highlights some of CHRT’s work, and progress, over the past 15 years.
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When we opened the doors of our center, we were only guaranteed three years of funding. We began as a grant-making nonprofit, supporting health service researchers across the University of Michigan; we're now conducting the research ourselves. Our new timeline highlights our accomplishments over the last 15 years.
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In 2012, CHRT launched its health policy fellowship. The inaugural fellows learned about health insurance systems design and gained valuable research and advocacy skills. Since then, 122 fellows have completed the four-month training program to learn about the intersection of health policy, practice, and research.
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Since our May newsletter, CHRT has welcomed eight new team members. We are pleased to introduce new staff and interns that will support the work of our communication, evaluation, finance, analytics, and policy teams.
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CHRT's most recent Michigan Physician Survey found that more physicians screen patients for social needs now than in 2018. However, the rate of referrals changes based on the social needs identified. Additionally, some physicians reported knowing where to refer patients but did not have a formal screening process in place to identify patients with social needs. Several factors contribute to the disconnect between the rate of screening and the rate of referrals. CHRT recommends strategies to address the gaps.
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The CHRT team facilitated 11 focus groups and fielded a survey to community health navigators who help Healthy Michigan Plan enrollees complete administrative requirements to acquire and maintain health insurance. The purpose: to evaluate the State of Michigan's efforts to reduce the number of people who might lose coverage unnecessarily following the state's passage of the 2019 work requirements bill, which would have required enrollees to report a minimum of 80 hours of work per month to keep their insurance benefits.
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CHRT affiliates recognized |
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Dr. Brent Williams, CHRT Board member and co-chair of the Washtenaw Health Initiative, received the Michigan Medicine Department of Internal Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award. READ MORE.
Tony Denton, Vice Chair of CHRT's Board of Directors, is named Chair of Michigan Health and Hospital Association. READ MORE.
Dr. Renu Tipirneni, CHRT Board member, received the Jerome W. Conn Award for Excellence in Research. READ MORE.
Melissa Riba, CHRT’s research and evaluation director, has been appointed to the Ingham County Racial Equity Task Force. READ MORE.
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CHRT at conferences and events |
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Terrisca Des Jardins, CHRT's executive director, attended an invitation-only luncheon organized by Michelle Meade to converse with Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt, director of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, on November 3.
Jadrienne Horton, CHRT's Graduate Education Diversity Intern (GEDI), shared her work with CHRT at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association.
Terrisca Des Jardins was selected to participate on a CMS technical expert panel (TEP) that will help the agency develop better electronic clinical quality measures for addressing social needs.
Marissa Rurka, CHRT's research and evaluation project manager, presented "The caregiver identity in context," focusing on the impact that siblings have on the psychological well-being of caregivers at the national Gerontological Society of America meeting on November 2.
Sharon Kim, CHRT's associate director for policy, presented "Using technology and care teams to improve maternal and infant health at home and on the go" at the NCQA Health Innovation Summit in Washington, DC on October 31.
Nancy Baum, CHRT's health policy director, attended a public health grantee and partners convening organized by The Commonwealth Fund to identify research needed to improve public health policy on October 14.
Ayse Buyuktur, CHRT's MI Community Care program manager, presented "Integrating community health workers into cross-sector community care coordination" at the BCBSM Healthy Safety Net Symposium on October 13.
Sharon Kim presented to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan physician diversity council on the importance of community health workers in health care delivery on October 13.
Melissa Riba and Nancy Baum, CHRT's directors of evaluation and health policy respectively, served as members of the BCBSM Healthy Safety Net planning committee.
Robyn Rontal, CHRT's policy analytics director, spoke with Phillipa Clarke's Epidemiology of Aging class about Medicaid policy and healthy aging for individuals with disabilities on October 12.
Nancy Baum, CHRT's health policy director, presented the keynote speech, "Addressing gaps in the behavioral health workforce," at a convening hosted by Tampa Bay Thrives on October 4.
Terrisca Des Jardins, CHRT's executive director, presented “Integrating and sustaining social care within traditional health delivery,” and “Addressing social needs in chronic and preventive disease” at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) National Learning Action Network meeting on July 26 and 27.
Terrisca Des Jardins and Robyn Rontal, CHRT's executive director and policy analytics director respectively, presented at the Auto Strategy Summit on July 18.
Robyn Rontal, CHRT's policy analytics director, presented “Healthy aging for adults with long-term physical disabilities,” at the IDEAL Rehabilitation Research and Training Center Conference on July 14.
Nancy Baum, CHRT's health policy director, presented "Innovative approaches to addressing the behavioral health workforce shortage,” at the National Conference of State Legislatures on June 7.
Matt Hill and Wendy Hawkins helped develop and tailor a curriculum around "Substance use in the workplace" and delivered the training to UAW Health and Safety representatives at the UAW Conference Center in Onaway, MI in May 2022
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