The NASHP conference focused on integrating social services to improve public health. States are coordinating programs like Medicaid, healthcare, housing, and education. Unlocking health data is key, and federal support is helping states build integrated data systems. The conference highlighted success stories of states improving healthcare through coordination and data-driven reforms.

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Home ∠ NASHP Conference 2014—State Health Policy Focuses on Integrating Social
Services
NASHP Conference 2014—State Health Policy
Focuses on Integrating Social Services
Having just wrapped up my first visit to the National Academy of State Health Policy’s
(NASHP) 27th
annual conference, I find myself reflecting on several themes that emerged
from the conference. Before I jump into them, I want to give huge kudos to NASHP for
knocking it out of the park with the conference this year. The subject matter of the
sessions was spot on, the conference logistics were terrific, and the venue, the Marriott
Marquis with its views of Downtown Atlanta, was superb. On to the themes that I saw at
the conference…
Despite what you hear in the news, lots of great things are happening in state health
policy across the nation!
It is no secret that national news reporting gravitates toward the negative headlines, so it
was refreshing to hear so many success stories at the conference. Whether it’s
Arkansas’s success with its alternative Medicaid expansion model, which is now being
replicated by other states, or Kentucky’s success with its state-based exchange, the
moral of the story is clear—good things are happening (they just don't make the news as
often).
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2. There is a real focus across the nation on enhancing integration among social services
with the end goal of enhancing public health.
In the opening keynote speech, Dr. Elizabeth Bradley from the Yale School of Public
Health spoke about the shift from a focus on health care to a focus on health. What at
first seems like a simple change (just drop the –care) is in fact a major shift in the thought
processes that currently govern public health policy. Dr. Bradley eloquently explained
that focusing on health requires a more holistic approach, one that targets the
intersection of health care delivery, housing, education, and other services that have not
traditionally been included in the health policy discussion. Broader integration across
public programs is essential to the shift that Dr. Bradley described, and it’s clear that
states are already moving in the direction of enhanced coordination.
Unlocking health data is critical to the national dialog on improving public health.
This certainly isn’t news; data analytics has been a focus of health policy makers for
years, but the difference today is that the federal government is showing a firm
commitment to supporting states in unlocking the data. With enhanced federal matching
dollars available for cutting-edge systems like all-payer claims data bases, integrated
eligibility systems, and health benefit exchanges, states have a unique opportunity to
greatly enhance the availability of health data for pennies on the dollar. In addition, the
Affordable Care Act and other federal and state legislation have provided states with
significant grant funding opportunities to study design, and implement innovative health
care delivery and payment strategies. As Rhode Island’s HealthSourceRI Director
Christine Ferguson put it Tuesday morning, this is a once-every-fifty-years opportunity to
leverage significant federal support to enhance the availability of health information and
data.
We are interested in the thoughts of other participants. What themes did you see at the
conference?
Topics: health policy, Management Consulting & Strategy, Health IT, Medicaid expansion, public
health, Kentucky, Yale School of Public Health, health data, Medicaid, NASHP, Pew Charitable Trust,
Kynect, Rhode Island HealthSource
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3. Jamie
Brennan
jbrennan@berrydunn.com
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4. Written by Jamie Brennan
Jamie Brennan is a Senior Consultant in BerryDunn’s Government Consulting
Group. He has nine years of experience working with state and federal
government agencies, and is the lead in BerryDunn’s Medicaid Innovation and
Healthcare Transformation Practice. Prior to joining BerryDunn, Jamie worked as
a Staff Assistant to US Senator Susan Collins and as an Assistant to the Principal
Examiner for the State of Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection.
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