Dinner Meeting #1 Notes

Dear Colleague:

During the last two days, I have begun studying the first dinner meeting's transcript, which has arrived already and which you will find on the seed grant website. Here below are my first notes about ideas from the meeting arranged as follows:

• ideas toward a data project,
• ideas toward a humane cost-containment project, and
• ideas toward a collaborative prevention project

Looking forward to seeing you for dinner on Monday, October 24th

Skip Robinson

Dinner meeting #1 Notes

One comment to pay attention to: "If we don't move into action in the second meeting, we'll lose everything." Another: Seek the "timely, compelling, solvable".

The first dinner meeting began to define priority needs and collaboration and support possibilities.

These possibilities and others can be looked at and prioritized in the second dinner meeting on Monday, October 24th - identifying goals of study/research to guide the foundation fundraiser's planning and writing.

Attending to the wide sweep of Sonoma County health and health care needs which have deepened in the midst of the County's health care crisis, the meeting generated multiple ideas for potential grant-writing directions:

A Data Project

• Data Project as Gil takes it an organizational step forward for the next dinner meeting - creating a more sophisticated information gathering process - individual sub-project subject reports combined into overall report to the community (e-mail, website, print, CD) - use in renewal negotiations, use in provider reimbursement negotiations - information for the community, as well as in report card form - A participant said: "raise foundation dollars to figure how better to 'do it right' in Sonoma County".

Data Project discussion also targeted funding for:

• A statewide search for exemplary programs of communities working on their health care crises - model case study examples of what others have done and are doing and planning
• Set up community model data/information gathering device - which generates broader information and analysis for the community and the community's health care planners
• Develop foundation-funded access to an independent medical actuary's interpretation of enhanced local data findings - to develop into challenges on the line-by-line renewal calculations of the health plans
• Estimate net calculations for including all Sonoma County residents in a plan for health care service - calculating access for all
• Estimate calculations for potential re-assessment of reimbursement rate levels for Sonoma County clinics and small hospitals
• Explore costs/savings/values potential through developing a virtual single payor health plan (or plans)
• Since diabetes rates here are 15% higher than state average, study data (and the literature) for priority suggestions for most effective actions
• Since the County has a much higher than average percentage of aged residents, increase the focus on healthy living at every age; increase analysis of quality and quantity of service functions
• Support significantly the County's Children's Health Initiative
• Since more County residents than average in California have a higher than average HIV-AIDS incidence in their communities, consider how to better support the existing model programs.
• Explore negotiations to increase stability of primary care community - Explore direct negotiations between purchasers and providers
• Could the state and federal governments consider re-insuring (or re-re-insuring) certain potential catastrophic local costs?

The California Program on Access to Care can explore its capacity to further support the Data Project.

A Humane Cost-Containment Project

• Contents: "What We Can Do Locally • Ideas from the SSU Initiative Conferences" - Possible selective applications with Sonoma County employers - Please read this outline list of humane health care money-saving possibilities locally. These ideas from the Initiative conferences deserve consideration.

Note that the California HealthCare Foundation has an early December deadline on a cost-reduction RFP.

A Collaborative Prevention Project

• How to significantly support the Children's Health Initiative
• How to significantly support development of a "five year wellness campaign" being discussed by the Sonoma Health Alliance and others
• How to develop collaboration on certain prevention projects among a number of local organizations, employers, provider groups, media - aimed at mutually reinforcing and synergistic prevention effects
• Specific collaboration on reducing childhood obesity - schools, public jurisdictions and their public health departments, families, places of worship, media, providers
• Study methods of significantly and inclusively expanding dental care access. Support creating Family Action Dental Surgery Center(s)
• Find "model" funding to provide Southwest Health Clinic with bi-lingual Interns for "promotora de salud" - utilizing skills of Community Public Health workers after their graduation from the SRJC community health worker certificate program
• Develop other efforts to help Southwest erase their long waits for an appointment - and to increase outreach
• Explore efforts to reinstate recently cut outpatient mental health benefits in the County, including travel access
• Explore priority health travel access needs and remedies
• Please read the prevention section from "What We Can Do Locally • Ideas From the SSU Initiative Conferences", page 1 begins Section I. Items A through I - A number of methods listed and most briefly described.
• Environmental impact/toxins perspective needed - Collaborate with existing organizations to acknowledge and plan
• Second dinner meeting participants may have important Latino health conference health care recommendations to share
• Support work on 'healthy aging" - Study of changing demographics, how to stimulate and support significant increases in elder health - to prepare for senior economic needs and the doubling of percentage over next 10-20 years
• How to significantly support "amazing collaboration" in the schools
• Explore how to get at "a lot of specialized, deep knowledge that isn't shared". Consider stakeholder communication improvement, KRCB evening news; wide distribution in everyday ways. How would a better local health and health care stakeholder communication system look?

Other

• Consider stimulating the creation of a County health "grand jury"
• Consider developing a policy institute here
• Don't compete - cooperate and support
• Lend "support with data, ideas, fundraising"