Grant Partners

East Boston Neighborhood Health Center will target uninsured patients prior to their next scheduled appointment and provide enrollment assistance.  To address churn, it will utilize its electronic medical record to identify individuals whose coverage is about to lapse, and refer them to follow-up assistance. It will develop a health insurance education module that includes low-literacy multilingual materials and a workshop curriculum that helps patients navigate the system.  Ten health insurance literacy information sessions will be held each year. 

To produce a public awareness campaign video highlighting the organization’s mission and availability of domestic violence resources. 

Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands (CACCI) will conduct outreach activities and assist individuals with applications or redeterminations.  They will use informational flyers and educational presentations to health and human service providers, businesses that cater to immigrants, and career centers.  They will notify those on subsidized insurance of impending deadlines, importance of responding to reviews, and develop an internal system to notify known households of necessary action steps. Finally, it will provide a comprehensive overview of health plan selection process based on health care needs and budgets, and use of a plan once enrolled.

To purchase five new Dell computers that will be used for training employees on the health center’s new EHR system.

The Health Starts at Home Initiative supports four partnerships that bring together housing and health care organizations to support work that demonstrates the positive effects of stable, affordable housing to children's health outcomes, identify promising new and existing models for collaboration that can be brought to scale, decrease health care costs, and decrease costs related to homelessness.  Families eligible for participation have children under the age of 12, and are experiencing housing instability.  The evaluation partners for Health Starts at Home, Health Resources in Action and the Urban Institute, are conducting both outcome and process evaluations to measure whether and how improved housing stability affects the health of children, as well as to document successes and challenges, and develop best practices for creating these types of health care and housing partnerships. 

To create a video highlighting the hospital and its programs.

 To support the organization’s doula program.

To purchase three laptops and support staff training for an electronic health records (EHR) system.

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.

To support the redesign of HLA's website. 

Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) serves unaccompanied homeless adults throughout the state, with a primary focus on the chronically homeless.  MHSA will analyze the impact of housing as a social determinant of health among the chronically homeless population through two permanent supportive housing programs, Home & Healthy for Good and Pay for Success.  In partnership with the Commonwealth Medicine division of UMass Medical School and Analysis Group, the study will estimate the impact of participation in these programs on health care use and costs, using Medicaid claims and enrollment data. 

To produce culturally competent patient education information on vision loss conditions.

BCMHC's Healthy Lives program, created in 2011, is designed to increase primary care and behavioral health access for patients with co-occurring serious mental illness and multiple chronic conditions.  The patient-centered model leverages intensive care management strategies to improve access, integrates care, and helps reduce barriers to treatment for patients with complex needs.  In addition to operating a community-based care management model – including home visits, and individual and group counseling – the program introduces self-care and wellness activities for patients to become increasingly more engaged in their own health.  Healthy Lives, which received Foundation grant funding in 2015, serves low-income seriously mentally ill adults living in Brookline, Roxbury, Brighton, Allston, and most recently Dorchester and Mattapan, with at least two chronic medical conditions (such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or COPD).  Work to date has shown that Healthy Lives significantly improves health outcomes and reduces avoidable ED visits for participants. The goal is to serve 250 to 300 patients over three years.

To purchase video conferencing equipment.

Ecu-Health Care will utilize broadcast and print media to inform residents of health coverage options; provide presentations to community organizations; educate area businesses about health coverage options for employees; and work with physicians’ groups and health and human service organizations to facilitate referrals. Churn will be reduced through education during one-on-one application assistance appointments and health insurance literacy is integrated into a comprehensive packet for applicants.