August 29, 2017
Central Health’s Community Health Champions met at the Seton Administrative Offices on Aug. 16 to learn more about one of the most important elements of Central Health’s mission – health care transformation and innovation.
Kicking off the day, Seton Healthcare Family’s Chief Advocacy Officer Geronimo Rodriguez welcomed the group of nearly 40 health champions. Health Champions then learned from Central Health’s Chief Strategy Officer Christie Garbe how Central Health created a partnership with Seton – the Community Care Collaborative – to align outpatient and hospital-based safety net systems for shared financial risks, joint planning and improved patient outcomes and to draw down maximum available federal funding.
Dr. Mark Hernandez, Chief Medical Officer of the Community Care Collaborative, took the mic to explain the differences between transformation and innovation in the health care sector. He described the challenges that go into both and explained in detail how health care transformation is much easier said than done – though not impossible.
Cynthia Gallegos, Project Manager for the Community Care Collaborative, and Devin Williams, Nurse Practitioner at Dell Medical School, thoroughly explained how in collaboration with their teams, they reduced wait times for Medical Access Program and Sliding Fee Scale patient consultations from more than a year to less than 30 days through health care transformation.
Kristi Henderson, Vice President of Innovation and Virtual Care for Ascension’s Texas Ministry, closed Workshop IV with a robust conversation on telemedicine and virtual health. The presentation shed light on how virtual care can help reduce disparities, lower cost options, improve health outcomes and empower individuals who are low-income and uninsured to take control of their health.
The Community Health Champions are students and ambassadors, both learning about the intricacies and challenges of health care in Travis County and helping to educate others in our community, so that we can all come together to realize Central Health’s vision of Central Texas as a model healthy community. Fore more information, contact Anais Cruz at 512-978-8179.
Learn more about the Central Health Community Health Champions.
