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Mission,
Vision, Values
Our Mission
To provide access to
quality health care for Los Angeles County's vulnerable and low income communities
and residents and to support the safety net required to achieve that
purpose.
Our Vision
A healthy community in which all have access to the health care they
need.
Our Values
We are committed to the promotion of accessible, high
quality health care that:
Our employees, board and advisory committee
members have a unique commitment to L.A. Care and our health plan members. We
live and work in the cities and communities of Los Angeles County. Our health
plan members are our neighbors. We care about the same things they do, including
good health care and building healthy communities .
To implement our
Mission, Vision and Values, L.A. Care is currently pursuing the following
initiatives:
Children's Health
Initiative of Greater Los Angeles
The Children's Health
Initiative of Greater Los Angeles (CHI) is a coalition of more than 40 major
organizations (including health care providers and associations, private
employers, foundations, public health officials, business leaders and educators)
that have come together to address the shortfall in health coverage for youth
and students throughout Los Angeles County.
While the long-term goal of
this effort is to provide a meaningful health care option for all children and
youth through age 18 residing in the County whose families are at or below 300%
of the federal poverty level (which equates to an annual salary of $55,200 for a
family of four), the more immediate goal is to provide health care coverage for
the next three years to more than 100,000 students who are currently uninsured.
CHI was
co-convened by L.A. Care, The California Endowment and the Los Angeles County
Department of Health Services in mid-2003, and has grown quickly in stature and
substance. A goal of about $100 million in public and private funds was targeted
to pay for the three-year insurance program as well as for policy development
and sophisticated enrollment efforts to streamline the local application and
eligibility verification process. Of the $100 million goal, as of April 1, 2004,
nearly $80 million had been raised or pledged. In addition, as of April 1, 2004,
approval was obtained from State licensing authorities for L.A. Care to expand
enrollment in the CHI three-year program. It is anticipated that additional
developments will occur during the second quarter of 2004 to raise public
awareness and involvement in this important initiative.
Oral Health
Initiative
In 2003,
through our Oral Health Initiative, L.A. Care invested $3.4 million (including
$200,000 from The California Endowment) to increase access for low-income and
uninsured County residents to oral health services. Grants were awarded by L.A.
Care to 22 community-based organizations throughout the region to help them
maintain or increase their oral health services.
As of March 2004, this initiative has served more than
74,000 children and adults. This represents an increase of 32,000 individuals
who have received treatment and/or oral health education since the end of 2003.
Nineteen of the twenty two grantees have submitted continuation proposals. Final
selections for the continuation grantees will be completed by the end of May
2004.
Nurse Advice Line
In February 2004, L.A. Care launched its toll-free, 24-hour-a day "Call
for Care" Nurse Advice Line. This service is designed to assist members through
direct communication with a registered nurse who can evaluate their symptoms and
help members choose the most appropriate source of care. The projected benefits
of this service include more informed consumers making decisions about the right
level of care -- their physician's office, the emergency room, or self care.
The advice line is available to the 170,000 individuals
covered by L.A. Care's Healthy Families, California Kids, Healthy Kids and CHP
products, and has been announced and promoted to these members via materials in
11 threshold languages. In its first six weeks of operation, the advice line
received more than 1000 calls from low-income individuals seeking advice
regarding their health care needs.
Childhood Obesity Initiative
To
address the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, L.A. Care recently launched a
new initiative to provide tools and training to health care professionals. On
March 23, 2004, we began this effort in earnest with a large-scale conference,
Battling the Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Strategies for Health Professionals to
Prevent and Treat Obesity. The conference featured leading experts in the field,
who spoke about practical strategies related to education and advocacy. More
than 600 area providers (including 300 physicians) attended the half-day event.
We anticipate continuing our significant efforts during
2004 in the area of childhood obesity prevention. Our co-sponsors of March 23
conference included Blue Cross of California, Care 1st Health Plan, UHP
Healthcare, Community Health Plan, the Los Angeles Chapter of the National
Medical Association, the Los Angeles County Medical Association, the California
Latino Medical Association, the California Health Care Safety Net Institute, the
California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and the Los
Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. We plan to work vigorously with these
organizations and other leaders in this area to address various medical and
social aspects of childhood obesity. As examples, in the coming months L.A. Care
will host additional training sessions for providers and we are developing a
comprehensive Community Resource Guide for providers to refer members to
obesity-related programs and services.
e-Health Initiative
In early 2004, L.A. Care, as a
co-convener with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the
Los Angeles County Medical Association, began a process toward cooperative
activities for electronic exchange of health care information ("e-health") in
the greater Los Angeles area. This effort is known as the "Los Angeles Area
E-Health Coalition."
The Coalition is envisioned as a vehicle where
numerous health care organizations and consumer groups throughout the region can
discuss potential cooperative projects for sharing information electronically to
provide and arrange for health care services as efficiently and effectively as
possible. The Coalition has already expanded beyond the co-conveners to include
several additional major health care organizations. A plan is being developed to
gain further key participants, to inventory the existing e-health activities
taking place throughout the region, and to secure public and/or private grant
funds to support pilot programs in both an inner-city and a rural setting within
the County.
April 2004 E-Health
Presentation
Asthma Pilot Program
Under our Community Health
Investment Fund Program, L.A. Care has authorized $600,000 to address the
growing prevalence of childhood asthma in Los Angeles County and to improve
self-management among children and families. Slated for the second quarter of
2004, L.A. Care will award grants to eligible asthma collaboratives and/or
community-based organizations with special experience in intervention, outreach
and education with the objective of improving self-management among children and
families with asthma.
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