Data Analysis Project Easel Notes
Small group
Dinner meeting 10-06:

What brought each of you here tonight? What is your interest in being here?

• As a health planner I am interested in data generated in this county
  • I would like to see the profile from this group in the next 6 months
  • To provide an asset to the community in concert with the county
  • Add to the county health profile in area of what resources are out there- i.e. Disability, health workers compensation etc.
    • Data from first responder calls
    • Education data on healthy kids; absenteeism
• What other revenue generation is possible with a healthier community?
• Create a poll to understand public support and sentiment
• A recent report provided on specialty surgery(s) in the county and how the costs contribute to the high % of healthcare costs:
  • Under 35 age group has a diabetes admissions rate of 15% above the state average (see other data on the report)
  • There are other examples of areas in which Sonoma County is above the state admission rates
• Organized labor wants to understand its input versus output of benefits to figure out public health policy initiatives they can recommend.
  • We want to bust open the big black box of health care costs.
• Health of the primary care community in this county is at a critical juncture
  • How do we survive?
  • The future of the family medicine project- (Group wants to learn more about it)
  • The contrast between vision and reality is stark- it produces vertigo
• Roseland community is perhaps a good location or pilot projects
• We can help create interest in the data - so that it is not threatening to cost sensitive groups- as a purchaser of healthcare
• Potential for collaboration on a very complex subject.
  • Raise foundation $ to figure out how to do it right in Sonoma County
  • Need to do it locally
    • There is a project in Santa Clara County that is working with organized labor to do this. (working partnerships- Sarah Muller)
• Need to understand what other counties are doing in this same arena
  • ID "best" ideas and put them to work
  • Do a statewide, county to county scan of who is doing the "Best" work. i.e. Healthy kids
  • How complicated this is?
  • Can we get something done in a few months with the right resources? It might cost $35K
  • We know the 15-20 counties to look at.
• Request for a copy of the 1 year benefit contract renewals for major groups in county that could be analyzed line by line in order to negotiate more effectively in next renewal
• Before labor comes back to the bargaining table they need more data
• Purchasers need to bargain directly with health care providers
• What commitments have been made for seed dollars for this initiative? Answer:
  • Communications
  • Healthcare fundraisers hired
  • Meeting costs
• Would like to see a universal healthcare program coming out of this effort.
• The southwest healthcare clinic has a three month wait to be seen.
  • What is the cost to bring this number down to a one day wait?
  • We need to know the data
• There are secret agreements between hospitals and providers (plans)
  • i.e. Blue Cross negotiated individually with the hospitals and are paying [substantially less] than Sutter is
• Providers say the issues are:
  • Technology
  • Aging Population
  • Drug costs
  • Are these all true?
• We need to get beyond "going" after insurance companies and focus on our mission statement
• We need to develop the data to understand the whole system
  • Our objective can be broader than getting data from the insurance companies
  • What kind of information do providers want that they don't have?
• Where do we come up with the resources to fix the issues?
  • Is there a way to develop a strong partnership (direct) between providers and buyers?
  • Is there a better way to handle costs for catastrophic?
  • There is a growing interest among hospitals to....
  • Improve healthcare delivery systems
• Come up with a model to cut out the middleman
  • While providing great access to primary care
• In order to lobby effectively, it can be helpful to have case study examples of what others have done.
  • i.e. The case study example for the SMART system
• Arnie Milstein's, cost pyramid breaks down healthcare costs: accessible on a website
• Consider value of state reinsuring catastrophic?
• State politics:
  • We need to focus things on specific efforts
  • Target specific efforts
• Create a more sophisticated local system
• Another reason the data is important - Joe Nation healthcare proposal put together using insurance company data
• Develop high line data that speaks to these issues
• Sonoma County utilization databank is being built now by Tom Moore
• Want to develop a further proposal for this data project [by the next meeting?]