Health Improvement Partnership
Background
The Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County (HIP) is a nonprofit coalition of public and private health care leaders dedicated to increasing access to health care and builiding stronger local health care systems. In an industry dominated by fragmentation and competition, HIP provides a common voice for health care improvement on behalf of the community and serves as an incubator of effective solutions.
Originally convened in 2003 via a Federal Healthy Communities Access Program to the County Health Services Agency, the collaborative has since cultivated unique partnerships among organizations that typically operate independently - and in competition - within the local health care system:
HIP Members:
HIP Council:
*Central Coast Alliance for Health
*Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County
*Dominican Hospital CHW
*Health Care Outreach Coalition
*Medical Society of Santa Cruz County
*Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust
*Physicians Medical Group
*Safety Net Clinic Coalition
*Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency
*Sutter Santa Cruz
*Watsonville Community Hospital
Safety Net Clinic Coaltion
*Cabrillo Health Center
*County Clinic, Emeline
*County Clinic, Watsonville
*Dientes Community Dental Clinic
*Diabetess Health Center
*Dominican Pediatric Clinic
*Health Care Outreach Coalition
*Homeless Persons Health Project
*Planned Parenthood
*Salud Para la Gente
*Santa Cruz Women's Health Center
HIP recognizes that our community’s health care system is interdependent: when one facet of our fragile system is suffering, then the whole system suffers. Consequently, the plight of the under/uninsured is shared by every member of the community who subsequently bears the burden of higher health care premiums, increased taxes and other public subsidies, as well as poorer community health and a less productive workforce and citizenry.
HIP’s main initiatives involve increasing access to care, promoting health information technology in health care settings and cultivating broad-based partnerships to improve community health and promote better chronic disease management. In addition, HIP sees a growing role to provide information to the public on complex health care issues as well as advocate for policy reforms to improve access, contain costs and expand our community’s capacity to deliver services.
Projects include:
- Helped to launch Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County, which has enrolled nearly 6,000 low-income children in the Healthy Kids health plan as well as other public insurance programs;
- Reducing inappropriate use of the emergency room by as much as much as 54% through intensive case management of safety net clients via Project Connect;
- Cultivating development of health information technology projects to improve quality of care, increase prevention and intervention and improve health outcomes such as:
- implementation of electronic health records among the safety net clinics;
- supporting the development of a local diabetes registry to better manage the care and prevention of the disease;
- studying the feasibility of a community-wide health information exchange;
- Strengthening our local physician workforce through advocacy and awareness raising on the Locality 99 issue;
- Improving access to specialists for low-income, uninsured patients by building partnerships within the physician community;
- Launching the Make Your Wishes Known project, to provide free help and information to the public about completing their advance health care directives; and
- Working to coordinate activities throughout the community to address pediatric obesity through education, prevention, funding as well as resources and tools to help providers counsel and treat patients more effectively.
The Safety Net Clinic Coalition forms the cornerstone of HIP's work to improve healthcare access for some 70,000 residents who are at Poverty Level (about half of whom are also uninsured). Latino adults, many of whom are seasonal farmworkers, comprise over 50% of the safety net population in our community. Most are uninsured with 75% reporting incomes below 100% of the poverty level. Clinic members meet monthly to develop strategies to increase capacity at the safety net level, as well as develop a more coordinated system of care on behalf of safety net patients.
In May, 2005, HIP was granted tax-exempt status to solidify and sustain its efforts. Major support comes from the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency as well as public and private grant funding.
HIP Staff
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