CHAD Connection October 17, 2024

Access to health care and health coverage are at the core of CHAD’s mission and values. One of my favorite parts of my job is when I get to speak on behalf of health care for everyone, and it is especially fun when we can highlight patients and others willing to share personal stories about how access to health care has impacted them.

In September, CHAD hosted a workshop for health care professionals who help people sign up for coverage where participants heard from Kuol Malou, Founder and CEO of Design Narratives. He works with immigrants and refugees in South Dakota. Kuol shared examples and stories from his friends and neighbors about ways we may inadvertently send the message that health care and health coverage are not for them. When we use language that is inaccessible or when we align with messages that some people "deserve" health care while others don’t, we create barriers that prevent people from seeking help when they need it. Alternatively, there are ways we can send welcoming messages by paying attention to language, stories, and representation in health care.

That message has stayed with me as I have had conversations about Amendment F in South Dakota which would enable the state to add work requirements to the Medicaid program. Natasha Smith joined me on the radio to share her story about growing up low-income and Latina and the power that Medicaid had in her life and the life of her family. She reminded us of the complexity people are managing, especially those who are raising kids and working multiple low wage jobs. She shared how difficult it is to change the narrative when you have come from intergenerational poverty. A recording of the interview can be found here.

If you share my view that we need to make it easier and not harder for people to access health care, I hope you will join Natasha and I in opposing Amendment F. Click here if you want to learn more about the amendment and the case against it.

Finally, we have had the joy and privilege of several South Dakotans entrusting us with their health care stories and the way Medicaid has impacted them and their communities. Listen to the experiences of Tsion who is a 19-year-old with type 1 diabetes; Queen who shares how "being fully covered takes a relief off of my shoulders;" and Erica who lets people know that help is available for those who want to sign up for coverage through Medicaid or the Marketplace. Watch them here.

Brittany Zephier is a dedicated advocate for public health and community well-being, currently serving as the Navigator Project Manager at the Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas (CHAD), a position she began in October 2024. In her role, Brittany oversees the implementation of the Navigator program, providing statewide health insurance education, enrollment assistance, and post-enrollment services, ensuring Dakotans have access to affordable healthcare.

Before joining CHAD, Brittany worked at the Helpline Center, where she served as the Partner Engagement Coordinator Lead. Her experience there honed her skills in building strong community relationships and fostering collaboration between organizations to enhance service delivery and support for individuals in need.

Brittany earned her bachelor’s degree in business economics from South Dakota State University and her Master of Public Health from the University of South Dakota, providing her with a strong foundation in economic and health perspectives. She is passionate about promoting health equity, fostering collaborations, and improving systems that positively impact community health.

In addition to her professional work, Brittany is an active volunteer in her community. She lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with her two dogs and enjoys staying active, traveling, and reading.

Alyssa McDowell is the Marketing and Event Specialist for CHAD's Navigator program, leveraging her extensive background in marketing strategy, creation, and post-publication analysis.

Previously, she worked as the Website Content Strategist at Hot Pink Ink, where she focused on website strategy, accessibility, and usability for South Dakota state-funded programs like Avoid Opioid SD, Good and Healthy South Dakota, Healthy South Dakota, Be Tobacco Free South Dakota, and For Baby's Sake.

Alyssa also worked for Curate Well Co. and Lemonly, where she focused on storytelling to impactfully reach the intended audience for infographics, micro-sites, and the entire marketing wheelhouse needed for a small business (social media, email marketing, advertising, etc.).

Outside of her CHAD work, Alyssa is a Meditation Practitioner/Teacher. She enjoys reading a multitude of subjects and learning about personal development and health strategies. She lives in South Dakota with her husband and two children.

Kaitlyn Van Peursem joined CHAD in October 2024. As the Digital Communications & Design Specialist, Kaitlyn develops and implements communications and marketing content, including graphic design, copywriting, and social media. She creates unique marketing campaigns to effectively tell the health center story and works to support staff and member health centers in enhancing their marketing capabilities.

Before joining CHAD, Kaitlyn worked for Horizon Health in South Dakota, where she helped enhance the marketing outreach for medical, dental, and behavioral health services in both rural and underserved communities. Specifically, she led social media outreach, content marketing campaigns, graphic design, and video creation. She started new wellness programs for the organization, including the Healthier Horizons Wellness Challenge and the pediatric dental ambassador Rocky the Raccoon. She also works as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator.

Kaitlyn is involved in the community by volunteering with the Mitchell Area Optimist Club and founding her church’s Events Committee.

Kaitlyn received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Public Relations and Writing and Rhetoric from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. She currently resides in Mitchell, South Dakota with her husband and daughter. In her free time, she enjoys reading, boating, and attending Mitchell High School’s fine arts programs.

The Keep It Local coalition opposing Measure 4 in North Dakota now has over 110 member organizations, including CHAD.

In summary, Measure 4 states:

Political subdivisions may not raise revenue through levying any tax on assessed value of real or personal property.

Political subdivisions may continue to levy tax if the tax was dedicated to the payment of bonded indebtedness.

The state shall provide annual property tax revenue replacement payments to political subdivisions in the amount equal to what was levied in 2024.

If passed, Measure 4 will change the North Dakota Constitution. The two biggest concerns about Measure 4 that the Keep It Local coalition members agree on is:

There is no well-vetted plan to make up the estimated $1.575 billion per year to cover property taxes to fund essential services.

Measure 4 would take away local control of the local budget. Officials in the community know more about the community needs than decision makers at the state level.

Visit the Keep It Local Coalition for more information and follow the coalition on Facebook to stay up to date on the efforts and messaging.

Voter Information (ND & SD):

Election day is November 5. For information about how and where to vote, visit North Dakota Voter Information and South Dakota Register to Vote

The open enrollment period for Marketplace health insurance coverage in 2025 is November 1, 2024 through January 15, 2025. Open enrollment is when individuals and families who do not yet have comprehensive insurance through their employer, Medicare, or Medicaid can enroll in an affordable health insurance plan at www.Healthcare.gov.

Health insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace will remain very affordable in 2025 thanks to the extension of the Inflation Reduction Act. This means there is no income cap to qualify for subsidies. Through 2025, if you make over 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL), tax credits gradually decrease as your taxable income rises. Four out of five people are eligible for health insurance plans for $10 or less per month.

Over the past 12 years, the Affordable Care Act has greatly increased the number of individuals in our states with access to health insurance. In 2024, 51,000 individuals in SD and 37,000 individuals in ND enrolled in health insurance through the Marketplace!

A sincere thank you to the health center staff, Navigators, and partner organizations across the Dakotas who are connecting individuals to health coverage and health care services!

Help us get the word out!

An open enrollment toolkit is available for health centers and partner organizations to promote the importance of health insurance coverage. The toolkit includes sample social media messages and graphics to promote health insurance coverage.

You are invited to join us at the Great Plains Health Data Network Summit & Strategic Planning Conference as we build a vision for the future of health care delivery in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Over the course of the two-day event, attendees will work together in a collaborative, fast-paced, and energizing environment to create a long-term vision for the network. The result will be a new three-year strategic plan.

November 19-21, 2024

Holiday Inn Downtown Convention Center, Rapid City, SD

Data Storytelling Workshop
Thursday, November 21, 2024

The Great Plains Health Data Network (GPHDN) is excited to welcome Andy Krackov from Hillcrest Advisory to lead a data storytelling workshop on the final day of the GPHDN Summit & Strategic Planning Conference. The workshop will include sessions on how to transform health care data into meaningful data stories and develop meaningful data visualizations. Health centers will be able to apply what they have learned as they analyze real health center data to develop a data story. Attendees can choose to attend the data storytelling workshop only.

Click here for event details and registration. Register soon! The hotel room block will close on October 23.

Back to Basics: Dashboards

Are you ready to take your DRVS expertise from 101 to 201 and dive head first into Dashboards? Custom dashboards are one of the most complex tools in DRVS, yet they deliver a wealth of potential related to tracking, evaluation, and communication. Join us for a dashboard deep dive as Azara experts walk through how to create an effective and visually compelling dashboard to tell your organization’s story. We welcome participants to ask any questions you have on dashboards in your registration.

Tuesday, October 22

12:00 pm CT/11:00 am MT

Optimizing Patient Care: Exploring Empanelment Tools in DRVS 

When it comes to creating patient-provider assignments, there are many factors to consider — supply and demand, full-time providers vs. part-time providers, residency programs, patient choice, risk distribution, and provider burden — the list goes on. However, traditional EHR systems have limited ability when it comes to accessing the information needed to consider and integrate these moving targets. During this session, participants will learn about the measures available within DRVS that can help your practice make more informed decisions around patient-provider assignments and put your data into action.

Thursday, October 24

1:00 pm CT/12:00 pm MT

Back to Basics: Population Health Tools

In this webinar we will lay the foundation for success in understanding how data can be leveraged to support the needs of the patients, populations, and communities served by practices on DRVS. Join us to learn more about many of DRVS' most unsung heroes — registries, care effectiveness reports, and pediatric reports — and how they can support you in advancing your population health goals. This webinar is recommended for team members responsible for identifying and tracking key populations. This might include the care team, population health, care coordination, care management, users with Admin privileges, among others.

Tuesday, October 29

12:00 pm CT/11:00 am MT

Hook, Line, & Sinker: How to Promote Provider Engagement Using DRVS 

Those with experience in the world of quality know that provider engagement is an essential ingredient to any successful quality improvement initiative. While there is a natural inclination to look for highly creative, even complex strategies for engaging care team members, Coastal Family Health Center of Mississippi and Project Vida of Texas are finding that the simple solutions are often the most fruitful ones. Collaborative efforts from both centers have notably ignited increased provider engagement, leading to a significant improvement in their UDS clinical quality measures in 2023. Attend this session to learn more about how these two practices are leveraging the Patient Visit Planning Report (PVP), scorecards, and email subscription functionality within DRVS to advance their quality improvement efforts.

Thursday, October 31

1:00 pm CT/12:00 pm MT

Motivational Interviewing: Strengthening Vaccine Conversations
Motivational interviewing is a powerful, evidence-based communication technique that helps guide individuals toward making positive health decisions, such as getting vaccinated. Join Immunize South Dakota for the next Online & In-The-Know, to gain practical skills to confidently address vaccine hesitancy using MI strategies. Attendees will explore the core spirit and skills of MI, understand its effectiveness in fostering behavior change, and discover what it might look like during vaccine-related conversations. A brief review of empirical evidence of using MI for vaccine hesitancy will be discussed. Through real-world examples, this session will equip clinicians with tools to enhance patient engagement and facilitate more impactful, constructive discussions about vaccines. Presented by Todd F. Lewis, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, North Dakota State University.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024
12:30 pm CT
Register Here

Medical Assistant Training Program Webinar
Join CHAD for an informational session to learn more about a NEW Medical Assistant Training Program.

The Medical Assistant Training Program is a 12-month program that combines on-the-job training with the educational foundation and principles to prepare learners to take the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) test through the National Healthcareer Association.

In this webinar, the presenter will provide an overview of each element of this training program including:

Functional timeline of the program;
Course curriculum overview;
Coaches and employer expectations;
Program supplies; and
Skills logs and simulations

The webinar will close with an introduction to the resource hub and will allow time for you to ask questions about this program and learn how your health center can get involved.

This training is relevant for human resources, operations, nursing, and anyone interested in discovering how to grow an on-site medical assistant training program at your health center.

Thursday, October 31
12:00 pm CT/8:00 am MT
Register Here

Equity Talk: Diabetes Prevention & Management for High-Needs Populations
Join CHAD for an Equity Talk webinar designed to empower health care professionals, community organizers, and public health advocates with effective strategies to enhance education and support to individuals with diabetes. We will explore strategies to understand and overcome unique challenges involved in providing diabetes care and prevention education to diverse populations and communities.

This webinar is ideal for health care professionals, diabetes educators, community health workers, program coordinators, and anyone involved in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of health programs aimed at diabetes prevention and management

Key Objectives:

Identifying Core Elements: Learn about the key elements and principles that can be integrated into interventions to significantly increase enrollment and retention rates among populations most in need of diabetes education and support.
Tailoring Programs to Meet Needs: Gain insights on how to increase partners’ abilities to customize current programs to more effectively appeal to and engage with populations experiencing the greatest need or at risk for type 2 diabetes.
Addressing Challenges: Understand the unique challenges involved in providing diabetes care and prevention education to diverse populations and explore effective strategies to overcome these challenges.
Understanding Cultural Influences: Recognize the influence of health beliefs and cultural backgrounds on the behaviors of individuals from diverse communities and learn how to incorporate this understanding into more effective program designs.

All health center staff and partner organizations are welcome to attend.

Wednesday, November 6
12:00 pm CT/11:00 am MT
Register Here

Comprehensive and Team-Based Care Learning Collaborative
This eight-session series will support health centers beginning or restarting their move to high-performance, team-based comprehensive primary care.

The learning collaborative provides health center participants with quality improvement concepts and skills to systematically achieve a specific aim and identify areas for process improvement and role optimization. With coaching support and transformational strategies, health centers will develop highly trained clinical primary care teams and work to improve at least one UDS measure.

This learning collaborative is led by multiple experts, including Dr. Tom Bodenheimer (Founder, the Center for Excellence in Primary Care), Deborah Ward (Former Senior Quality Improvement Manager), and Kathleen Thies (Consultant). To learn more, download the syllabus here.

Wednesday, November 13
12:00 pm CT/11:00 am MT
Register Here

Uniform Data System Training: Web-Based Trainings
These free web-based trainings are designed to provide assistance navigating and preparing the 2024 UDS report. This training is for people of all levels of prior UDS experience and covers all aspects of the UDS report.

Understanding the relationship between data elements and tables is crucial for effective reporting of a complete and accurate UDS submission. This interactive training is an excellent way for new staff to understand their UDS reporting effort role. It has been designed for attendees of all levels. All financial, clinical, and administrative staff are invited to learn updates, hone reporting skills, and share questions and experiences with their peers.

Tuesday, November 12
1:00 pm CT/12:00 MT

Thursday, November 14
1:00 pm CT/12:00 MT
Register Here

CHAD Network Team and Workgroup Meetings

Tuesday, October 29 @ 1:00 pm CT / 12:00 pm MT — Outreach and Enrollment Monthly Call

Tuesday, October 29 @ 3:00 pm CT / 2:00 pm MT — CFO and Finance Manager Roundtable

Tuesday, November 5 @ 12:00 pm CT / 11:00 am MT — Behavioral Health Work Group

Thursday, November 7 @ 12:00 pm CT / 11:00 am MT — Clinical Quality Network Team

Tuesday, November 12 @ 2:00 pm CT / 1:00 pm MT — Communications & Marketing Network Team

Wednesday, November 13 @ 1:00 pm CT / 12:00 pm MT — Advocacy Network Team Post Election Analysis and Legislative Session Preview:

The CHAD Advocacy Network Team invites anyone who is interested to join us for our next call on November 13 at 1:00 pm CT/12:00 pm MT as we prepare for the 2025 legislative session in both states.

Guest speakers Jennifer Stalley with Midwest Solutions and Courtney Koebele with the ND Medical Association will be sharing their post-election analysis for each state. Learn more about the policy priorities of CHAD in the 2025 Legislative and learn more about the 2025 Days at the Capitol.

Email Kim Kuhlmann, Liz Schenkel, or Shannon Bacon to be invited to the Zoom meeting.