Grant Partners

Health Care for All (HCFA) will focus its advocacy on achieving an affordable, accessible health care system for all Massachusetts residents. HCFA-led coalitions will work on behalf of consumers, addressing issues such as health reform implementation, oral health, children’s health, and health equity. HCFA will remain the coalition leader for the Campaign for Better Care, Oral Health Advocacy Task Force, and the Affordable Care Today (ACT!!) Coalition.

Since 2012, Lahey Health Division of Primary Care and Lahey Health Behavioral Services have collaborated to embed behavioral health clinicians in five community primary care practices, sharing medical records, and using the Collaborative Care Model (CCM), a team decision-making model of care.  Through this grant, Lahey Health Behavioral Services proposes a multi-faceted, multi-site expansion of its integrated CCM approach, by adding two community primary care practices (Gloucester and Beverly); introducing CCM in one Lahey Health System obstetrics practice; establishing CCM in one Lahey Health System pediatrics practice; piloting reverse integration at the Lahey Health Behavioral Services community mental health center in Salem; and expanding screenings of primary care patients across all of these sites to identify higher-risk patients and track outcomes.  Lahey Health Behavioral Services will also use tele-psychiatry to enable consulting psychiatrists to serve more patients, particularly for more rural, isolated sites, such as Gloucester, where there is a lack of access to specialty services.

To upgrade the health center’s phone system at its satellite location in Lee.

To purchase five new desktop computers; an upgrade of Sonicwall Access Point software and a Smart Managed Power Over Ethernet (PoE) switch.

Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) will launch a media campaign to educate residents about open enrollment and how to receive assistance. It will target churn through development of multilingual materials that inform residents of actions needed to retain insurance through MassHealth or the Connector, distribute enrollment packages, and provide client counseling on redetermination. Finally, it will develop messaging about how to retain appropriate and comprehensive coverage within primary care and health literacy workshops.

With support from the Foundation, EBNHC will focus on expanding behavioral health services for children and adolescents (ages 5 to 21) who are seen in Pediatrics, Family Medicine and the health center’s School-Based Health Center.  In 2014, the Pediatric and Family Medicine Departments served a total of 15,498 patients up to age 21, and the number of child and adolescent patients served continues to increase.  EBNHC's two newly hired child/adolescent psychiatrists will be able to fully treat and manage, and track and measure, the care of children and adolescents with mild to moderately severe depression and anxiety disorder, and integrate this care with a range of medical conditions.  EBNHC has historically only been able to refer pediatric patients with behavioral health issues to community providers where there are challenges associated with long wait times due to psychiatric provider shortages, as well as geographic and linguistic barriers.  Expanding on-site psychiatric capacity also will help to facilitate care planning for patients following psychiatric hospital discharge.

To hire a Homeless Integration Consultant to enhance and expand programming in their Outpatient Clinic.

To hire a consultant for strategic planning, development, and marketing purposes to enhance its health programming.

Dukes County will participate in community outreach events, and use paid and unpaid advertising and social media to promote affordable insurance information. They will develop a folder with handouts for appointments, and adapt a checklist for account set-up, enrollment and payment information, primary care provider selection, and making appointments. It will also set up reminder systems for clients with pending action steps. 

To support a staff member’s registration and travel to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Medical Centered Home training.

Father Bill's and MainSpring provides emergency and permanent housing to help people obtain skills, jobs, housing, and services.

To purchase EmpowerDB, a client database that will track all demographics and services provided.

To support a staff member to attend a certification and training program for tobacco cessation.

The PPOC launched its Behavioral Health Integration program in 2012 and now has 41 practices participating.  The focus of this initiative is to provide substance abuse prevention and treatment services to adolescents and young adults (up to age 25) and their families at PPOC practices in Lowell and Wareham.  This funding will help expand PPOC’s effort to help practices with high-risk populations detect, treat, and manage substance abuse issues, and make referrals to community-based substance abuse care when needed.  The expansion will enhance the learning community curriculum to offer five additional hours of training on substance use, and ensure that the collaborative behavioral health integration teams have an embedded integration and clinical support specialist with substance abuse expertise via the PPOC's partnership with the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) at Boson Children’s Hospital.

The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers (the League) will address the changes in the policy and health care environment with vulnerable populations, community health centers, and their communities.  A main goal is to analyze health care reform policies, monitor proposals for change, and educate community health centers and partner organizations. The League will also assemble health centers, community members, providers, and advocates in an action-based coalition for maintaining and expanding coverage.