© Health Assist Tennessee, 2010. Our Saying at the agency Regarding healthcare in Tennessee, there is only one consistency Change.

© Health Assist Tennessee, 2010

Our “Saying at the agency”

Regarding healthcare in Tennessee,

there is only one consistency

Change

A statewide nonprofit organization helping Tennesseans overcome barriers

to health care

Agency Overview1994: • Established as TennCare Consumer Advocacy Program,

a service of the Crisis Intervention Center• Services offered in English & Spanish

1998: • Expanded to serve newly arriving Refugees• Added services in Arabic and Kurdish, then Bosnian,

Somali, and Vietnamese

2005 forward: • Became an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization under

the name Health Assist Tennessee with a designation

• Continued expansion of services, staff, and language capacity

2010 Programs, Services, & Products

• TennCare Consumer Advocacy Program

• Advocacy for Children in State Custody

• Health Care Navigation for the Uninsured

• AccessTN Income Verification

Who We Serve

• Adults and Children (all income levels, all types of insurance)

• Newly arrived refugees and immigrants

• Social workers and case managers

• Care providers, pharmacists

• Other nonprofits

• Legislative staff

Health Assist Tennessee

We can help our clients, funders and contractors through:

• case management and monitoring

• information and referral

• bilingual assistance & medical interpretation

• data tracking, reporting of trends

Our Languages

• American Sign Language

• Amharic

• Arabic • Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian • Dinka

• English

• Farsi

• Kurdish

• Portuguese

• Somali

• Spanish

• Vietnamese

The Numbers: 2009

• 60 employees handled 29,656 Information and Referral Contacts (calls, emails or letters)

• For complex or urgent issues, counselors opened 2,891 cases.

• FY2008/2009, outreach and education efforts reached over 12,000 people through 130 presentations and events around the state.

• HAT medical interpreters provided over 2,111 interpretations to approximately 1,900 individuals with Low English Proficiency (LEP)

Advantages of Nonprofit Status

• Able to retain pure “patient/consumer” advocate status

• Fairly quick turnaround of proposals and patient education collateral

• Able to build diversity of revenue streams

• Collaboration appeal to corporations and other nonprofits

Challenges of Nonprofit Status

• Recession tests ability to survive with such little financial cushion, much less research or invest in new revenue streams

• Available budget for salary and benefits makes it more difficult to compete with corporate and government sectors for quality employees

• Sustainability is expected• Restricted impact on policy at the legislative level

Advantages of State Funding

Advantages:• Once contract is in place, consistent

payment

• Vendor status opens other doors to other contracts

• Predictable reporting requirements

• Allows us to offer state health insurance

Challenges of State Funding

• Potential loss of funding and programs

• No control over size of contract despite insurance and cost of living increases

• Political environment can impact funding

How State Contracts Benefit Clients and Improve Advocacy Outcomes

State contracts have allowed us to:• Build rapport with policy makers and stakeholders• Point out issues and trends that affect clients• Advise the state and MCO’s with regard to readability

and cultural sensitivity of letters and publications for clients

State contracts add legitimacy to the agency in the eyes of other state agencies and potential

collaborators.

Strategies to Survive

• Dedicate time and focus to diversify revenue streams

• Focus on agency strengths and your “point of difference”

• Think outside the box for ideas• Use your employees’ greatest strengths• Gather a wisdom council• Get as much education as you can get• Ask others who are doing well for advice

HAT Revenue Streams

• Interpretation and Translation Services

• Cultural Competency Trainings

• DERBy™ (data tracking program)

• Corporate partnerships/collaborations

• Children’s Book: Tomorrow I’m Going to the Doctor ©

• Run for the Uninsured – Country Music Marathon team and Fall 5K

Artwork from I’m Going to the Doctor©

Michelle McRae, 2008

Opportunities for Sponsors

Michelle McRae, 2008

• Web-based Data Entry Reporting Based System that helps consumer assistance programs and other nonprofits collect, track, analyze and report data;

• Currently being licensed to MHAP;

• Considerably more flexible and less expensive than commercial data tracking systems;

Transitions

This conference is all about transitions.For Consumer Assistance Programs,this is when our help is most needed.

This is our time to shine!

For More Information:

Betsy Dooley

Director of Business and

Program Development

Health Assist Tennessee

[email protected]

(615) 313-9841, ext. 290

© Health Assist Tennessee, 2010