New York State Health Foundation

American Cancer Society

2010-09-02T21:15:00+00:00

Residents of rural regions exhibit higher colorectal cancer mortality rates and are less likely to receive routine colorectal cancer screening than urban residents. Three New York State counties—Cortland, Delaware, and Steuben— were selected for a targeted mail intervention approach because of their rurality, colorectal cancer mortality, and high percentages of late-stage diagnosis. The American Cancer Society developed this intervention to increase enrollment of uninsured and underinsured rural residents, ages 50 to 64 and in need of colorectal cancer screening, into the New York State Cancer Services Program. In addition, they hoped for program-eligible rural residents to begin or to increase their use of home-based colorectal cancer screening tests when made aware of the program.

Grant Goals:

As a result of this project, the American Cancer Society expected to:

Demonstrate that the use of the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service’s Consumer Health Profiles, overlaid with the New York State Department of Health’s (NYSDOH) regional cancer burden data, will improve the delivery of cancer information to rural populations.
Increase the number of uninsured and underinsured individuals enrolled in the NYSDOH Cancer Services Program for cancer screening, diagnostic and treatment services, and annual follow-up.
Provide evidence that the Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) is better accepted than the Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT), as demonstrated by a higher return rate of FIT test samples than FOBT test samples within a rural, underserved population.

Grant Outcomes:

Colorectal Screening Outcomes of this project:

Steuben County screened 80 clients using the incentives provided through this grant during the grant period.
Delaware County screened 52 clients during the grant period, using a combination of incentives, including those provided through this grant.
Cortland County screened 80 clients during the grant period, using a combination of the incentives, including those provided through this grant.

Grantee Information:

Grantee Website: http://www.cancer.org/
Grant Amount: $23,630

"City YMCA Set for Diabetes Prevention Program"

2010-09-02T12:45:00+00:00

NYSHealth Awards $375,000 Grant to YMCA to Implement Diabetes Prevention Program in 10 Regions Across New York

2010-08-31T14:00:00+00:00

James R. Knickman's Huffington Post column: “Fighting Diabetes Must Begin and End with Prevention”

2010-08-30T13:00:00+00:00

President and CEO James R. Knickman featured on The Brian Lehrer Show segment “Health Reform in New York”

2010-08-30T12:30:00+00:00

Room for Interpretation: Causes of Variation in County Medicaid Asset Transfer Rates, Opportunities for Cost Reduction

2010-08-26T18:00:00+00:00

This NYSHealth-funded report, prepared by the New York State Health Policy Research Center analyzes Medicaid administration at the county level, in particular, determination of eligibility for Medicaid coverage of nursing home care. Legislation enacted as part of the 2010-11 New York State budget requires the State to assume control of Medicaid administration and costs from counties. Administrative costs for Medicaid are estimated at $1.1 billion annually. The report highlights steps the State could take to begin the process of centralization, as well as other ways to reduce costs both through administrative and policy changes.

New Report Reveals Financial Weakness In New York's Primary Care Safety Net

2010-08-26T17:00:00+00:00

Health Center Financial Check-Up: Prescriptions for Strengthening New York’s Diagnostic and Treatment Centers

2010-08-26T04:00:00+00:00

New York State's nonprofit health centers as a whole are in financial distress, according to this report, “Health Center Financial Check-Up: Prescriptions for Strengthening New York’s Diagnostic and Treatment Centers,” supported by NYSHealth. The report, prepared by the Primary Care Development Corporation, analyzed seven years of financial data from 95 nonprofit diagnostic and treatment centers, and found that 43% lost money in all or most years, and margins fell from 2.28% in 2001 to 0.56% in 2007. On average, the health centers, which serve some 1.5 million mostly low-income New York State residents, were only one payroll away from full-scale financial distress.

Irondequoit Diabetes Management Seminar

2010-08-23T12:30:00+00:00

Establishing a Health Information Technology Infrastructure in New York State: The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC)

2010-08-19T19:30:00+00:00

There is an urgent need to improve health care quality, safety, and efficiency in New York State and broad use of Health Information Technology (HIT) will facilitate a secure and interoperable health information exchange. The activities planned under this grant were designed to further develop and implement the statewide collaboration process with the ultimate goal of advancing HIT adoption and use. Because HIT and the health information exchange infrastructure is intended as a public good, NYeC’s vision included engaging the public in understanding, using, and evaluating HIT and health information exchange capabilities, both as individual consumers and patients and as part of a community engaged in these activities.

Grant Goals:

NYeC hoped to achieve the following goals:

Create a better understanding of the evolving statewide health information and quality improvement strategy in New York for key health care policy makers and stakeholder constituencies, including consumer advocacy organizations.
Support and coordinate efforts across different HIT initiatives in New York to develop common specifications that result in measurable outcomes.
Engage consumers in HIT and health information exchange policy and implementation activities at the State and community levels.
Develop a State-level regulatory framework for Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) that will be designed to ensure consumer trust, stimulate further HIT investment and innovation, and support the State’s goals for improved quality and public health.

Grant Outcomes:

NYeC accomplished the following:

Formally designated by the NYSDOH as the public-private partnership that operates the statewide collaboration process on HIT in an inclusive and transparent manner.
Established and managed four policy/standards workgroups that included more than 300 representatives from various HIT projects that received HEAL-NY grant funds.
Created an education and communication committee comprising representatives from statewide health care organizations to identify their needs and develop common tools for communication.
Provided funding support and participated in a steering committee for a Consumer Advisory Council whose membership includes representatives from numerous consumer organizations (e.g., hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, employers, and health plans).
Conducted research and published a report on accreditation as a potential regulatory model for RHIOs titled Interoperable Health Information Exchange Policy, Governance, and Accountability.

Grantee Information:

Grantee Website: http://www.nyehealth.org/
Grantee Amount: $399,740

"NYS Health Foundation Report Addresses Federal Health Care"

2010-08-17T14:30:00+00:00

"New energy for health reform"

2010-08-16T17:30:00+00:00

"Health Foundation Sets Medical Reform Goals For The State"

2010-08-16T13:30:00+00:00

"Understanding and Supporting Veterans’ Health Needs"

2010-08-13T16:45:00+00:00

"New Paper: A Foundation’s Fight to Slow The Rate of State Health Spending"

2010-08-13T16:45:00+00:00