News Release
04/15/09
Colorado Children's Healthcare Access Program Receives The Colorado Trust's Annual Leadership Award
70% more Front Range pediatricians now care for publicly insured children
Denver, CO – The Colorado Trust announced today the Colorado Children's Healthcare Access Program (CCHAP) as the recipient of its 2009 Grantee Leadership Award. The annual award of $25,000 is made in recognition of exemplary leadership by a current grantee of The Colorado Trust and will be used to support the ongoing work of CCHAP.
A nonprofit organization established in 2006 by Steve Poole, MD, CCHAP provides support services to private pediatric and family medical practices to help them devote 10% or more of their practice to caring for children enrolled in Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+). With the support of CCHAP, the percentage of pediatricians and family doctors caring for publicly insured children in the Front Range has increased over the past three years from 20% to 90%. These practices are serving approximately 60,000 low-income children.
"CCHAP's innovations and dedication is making quality health care possible for Colorado children in low-income families, which in turn affords them an improved opportunity for a good life," said Irene M. Ibarra, President and CEO of The Colorado Trust. "We know that if the estimated 180,000 children in Colorado who cannot access health care do not receive well-child visits or acute care, they are more likely to do poorly in school and suffer long-term health problems. Under Dr. Poole's leadership, CCHAP has made tremendous strides in a short time to overcome the many barriers that keep physicians from providing the important care that these children need."
The award was presented to Dr. Poole at a convening of the Medical Home Initiative, a statewide effort to build systems of quality health care for all children in Colorado while increasing the capacity of providers to deliver such care. Dr. Poole also serves as Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Pediatrics for the School of Medicine, University of Colorado, and is a clinical team member at The Children's Hospital.
Preliminary results show that pediatric and family medical practices participating in CCHAP have cut in half the emergency room visits of the publicly insured children they see, and have achieved other costs savings with an increased focus on well-child visits and preventive care. These savings are used to provide higher reimbursements to doctors, making it possible for them to see increasing numbers of children covered by Medicaid and CHP+. Additionally, CCHAP has linked the participating practices to an array of services for families provided by 30 community-based organizations, for example, mental health counseling, social services, transportation, case management and an immunization reminder system.
Having achieved these significant results – higher immunization rates, more preventive care visits, and decreased emergency care visits and hospitalization rates – CCHAP is now focused on helping family practices across the remainder of the state to enroll and serve eligible children.
"The Colorado Trust is committed to achieving access to health for all Coloradans by 2018 focusing first on people who are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, including children and low-income families," Ibarra said. "The work of Dr. Poole and CCHAP exemplifies the ingenuity, devotion and can-do attitude necessary to move us toward caring for all children."
The leadership award was created in recognition of John R. Moran, former President and CEO of The Colorado Trust, for his devotion to improving the health and well-being of people across the state. Moran retired from The Colorado Trust in 2006, following 21 years of service to the grantmaking foundation.
The Colorado Trust is a grantmaking foundation dedicated to achieving access to health for all Coloradans.
