How CHIP Can Help Meet Child Specific Requirements and Needs in the Exchange: Considerations for Policymakers

"There are compelling reasons to consider how the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) can be used as a resource to meet the child-specific exchange requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, NASHP analyzed federal statutes, regulations, and guidance for CHIP and the exchange, and interviewed state and national experts to inform this work. The resulting brief offers options for using CHIP as a tool to inform exchange design and the companion piece compares selected CHIP and exchange requirements to highlight their alignment."  [Source: NASHP]

New county-level estimates of health insurance coverage in 2016

The Colorado Health Institute has released new county-level estimates of health insurance coverage in 2016.  An Excel table with the estimates is available for download from our website here (upon entering your name and email address).  [Source: Colorado Health Institute]

Assessing ICD-10 Impact on Your Practice

"Implementing ICD-10 in your practice will impact nearly everyone from the front desk, to the clinical staff and physicians, on through the coding, billing and reporting personnel.

Now that you and your staff have a better understanding of what ICD-10 is all about, take the next step down the path, get out your whiteboard and sticky notes and sign up for the free Coalition webinar on Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 12-1 PM MDT." Click here to register.  [Source: Colorado Rural Health Center]

FREE Blood Cancer Conference

"The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is hosting its annual Blood Cancer Conference on Saturday, April 20, 2013 in downtown  Denver.  If you, or someone you know has been affected by a blood cancer, check out this FREE conference!  There are tracks for both health care professionals and patients, caregivers, friends, and family.  There is also a sub-track specific for young adult survivors (ages 18-40), and multiple sessions in Spanish."  [Source: COPrevent]

Report Says Experience of CHIP Hints at Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Providers

"Enrollment in public health insurance coverage will expand significantly beginning in 2014. At this time there is only a limited understanding of what happens when an influx of newly insured patients encounters a relatively fixed supply of providers. Will they choose to work longer hours to accommodate the increase in demand? The experience of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) offers a preview of how providers might respond to the expansion.

According to a report in the Medicare & Medicaid Research Review, researchers from the Government Accountability Office and the Washington-based Center for Studying Health System Change found that the creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997 did not create a deluge of patients that the nation's pediatricians couldn't handle. Read more here."  [Source: Colorado Rural Health Center]

Free Online Continuing Education Programs Available from the ADA

"The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease (iDOC) are offering two new, online continuing education programs for primary care providers that address individualized practical approaches to managing obesity in type 2 diabetes using a risk-based decision making approach.

These online, free-of-charge continuing education programs are:

• Shared Decision-Making for Clinical Success in the Obese Person with Type 2 Diabetes  Click here to register
• Clinical Shared Decision-Making with the Obese Person with Type 2 Diabetes and a BMI >35  Click here to register"  

[Source: COPrevent]

PEAK Updates

PEAK's monthly news communication contains several valuable updates and learning opportunities.

• Wednesday 4/3/2013, NOON, for County and Community Partner Staff
  CO PEAK Outreach Team has rescheduled their regular PEAK Support Call to better support subject matter expert attendance.  Calls will now be on the first Wednesday of each month at noon. To join the phone conference on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013, noon - 1:00PM, dial (712) 432-0220 and when prompted enter this code: 5642211#.  On support calls the CO PEAK Outreach Team provides any significant PEAK system updates, and spend most of the hour with subject matter experts answering questions from county and community-based organization staff.  This is also a forum where staff can share best practices and collaboratively discuss ways to improve the system.
• CBMS Communication Survey Results Are In!
  The CBMS Executive Steering Committee and Communication Integrated Project Team thank all who responded to the recent srveys on CBMS communications!  The survey, distributed at the end of January 2013, gathered perceptions about CBMS communications from both CBMS users and community partners...Two major themes were revealed in the CBMS user survey: users receive too many CBMS communications from multiple sources (CBMS, CDHS, HCPF, and Service Desk); users are frustrated about the timeliness of notices regarding outages and slowdowns...From the community partner survey, it is apparent that a single source for information is needed. The recommendation is to use the new www.CBMSColorado.com website as the respository for all policy changes, builds, and system information for community partners. Until the website is up, the CBMS Communications Team plans to provide regular updates distributed via existing communications networks to community partners...Any additional comments or questions regarding CBMS communications, or to get a summary of the survey results, please contact CBMS.Liaison@state.co.us.
• Introduction to PEAK Webinar:  Wednesday 4/3/2013, for County and Community Partner Staff
  To join the Introduction to PEAK webinar on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013, please dial into audio at (866) 740-1260 and click HERE to connect to the webinar.  These webinars are open to any staff - please use them freely to help orient new staff or to provide a refresher for those already working with PEAK. Webinars occur from 9:00 - 10:30AM on the first Wednesday of every month. 
• Application Walk-through Webinar:  Monday 4/8/2013, for County and Community Partner Staff
  Would you like to the see the online application before you work with clients? Are you curious what the client sees when they complete an application online? Don't wonder any longer and join in this 1.5 hour session where the CO PEAK Outreach Team will dive into the application so that you can familiarize yourself with the questions that are asked! These sessions will provide plenty of time to ask questions and discuss how best to utilize PEAK to assist clients. To join the Monday, April 8th webinar, click HERE. To hear the audio portion of the call, dial (866) 740-1260.  

[Source:  CO PEAK Outreach Team]