The California Health Care Foundation’s virtual briefing on November 9, 2020 detailed the results of their study on the state’s Humboldt/Del Norte region. The study takes a look at healthcare in this area, including emerging issues that affect how residents receive care, and a range of economic, demographic, and financing conditions in California.In the briefing, the CHCF consulting team and five community leaders review the challenging California healthcare market and how this region is working to address their challenges, including working with Activate Care.
Featured in this report and briefing are Activate Care customers North Coast Health Improvement & Information Network, St. Joseph's Health, and Humboldt County Health & Human Services. Among the trends discussed are:
- The shortage of health care professionals in this area makes access to care challenging.
- Health and social challenges in this community include high poverty rates and health consequences from drug and alcohol abuse.
- The adoption of care coordination technology has helped filled the gaps by connecting health care providers to clients in need. Humboldt County uses the Activate Care platform to serve approximately 1,400 individuals with complex needs.
- Strong community collaboration has allowed the region to address provider shortages and expand access to treatment.
Community leaders in the region acknowledge that they can’t afford to work in silos, and describe the Activate Care platform as a game changer in system collaboration and efficiency. The CareHub provides care teams with real time Admission, Discharge, and Transfer (ADT) information, and allows them to coordinate with discharge planners at the hospital right inside our application. This reduces redundancy and confusion across the team.
Looking ahead:
Humboldt and Del Norte County community leaders see potential for increased efficiencies in addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and high Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) prevalence, along with reducing total cost of care. The willingness of the community to work together to address the challenges they face is critical to effectively bridging the gap in access to treatment, especially related to COVID concerns. While COVID-19 has caused health providers to pause on there work they’ve been doing in addressing substance use disorders, they know the SUD epidemic has continued and so they must focus simultaneously on addressing that challenge while also protecting residents from Coronavirus.
