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Spring 1998 ~ Vol 1, #3
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Dear Friend,
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| Lompoc Council Members - Annual Conference |
This issue highlights the Annual DRIS Conference, reports on a successful rural community health plan, and outlines the criteria for selecting DRIS delivery and/or finance functions. We are also pleased to feature the DRIS Advisory Committee members; the James Irvine Foundation; Project Director Marty Campbell; and new members of the DRIS team. Again, by popular demand, we have included a glossary of terms focused on California’s health care system. We hope that the articles in this issue of DRIS News will assist you in your rural health system integration efforts.
CIRHM was pleased to host the first “All DRIS Annual Conference” held in Berkeley on January 29th and 30th. The conference was attended by 38 volunteer Community Health Council representatives from the five DRIS sites. Also in attendance were members of the DRIS Advisory Committee, CIRHM Board Members plus the DRIS consultant and local coordinator team members. The conference opened with a reception honoring the volunteer Council members from the five DRIS sites.
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| David Vincent (Sisikyou) & Scott Rhine (Lompoc) |
The most delightful, beneficial and informative session by far was hearing from each of the Community Health Councils during dinner the first night. Each of the five DRIS communities, in a lively panel format, presented the history of their health care system integration efforts, an appraisal of the DRIS process, the benefits received thus far through the DRIS Initiative, and the opportunities they hoped to gain through the Initiative.
Marty Campbell, Program Director for the James Irvine Foundation, spoke of the Foundation’s interest in supporting integrated health systems. She acknowledged that each of the DRIS sites entered the Initiative at a different stage of development and therefore is proceeding at a different pace. While the Initiative process is similar, the results are expected to be different from site to site. Marty stated that the James Irvine Foundation is pleased to see the five communities forging new collaborative partnerships that reach beyond vested interests and traditional stakeholders and keep community interests at the forefront. She assured the DRIS site participants that the James Irvine Foundation is committed to the DRIS Initiative process to the year 2000.
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| Siskiyou Council Presentation - Annual Conference |
The participant evaluations of the conference are perhaps the best gauge of the conference’s value and effectiveness. With 50% of the participants completing evaluations, 100% agreed or strongly agreed that the conference met their expectations and provided useful information. Ninety-seven percent agreed or strongly agreed that the conference provided a good opportunity for networking. In response to the question, “What was the most valuable thing you experienced at this conference?”, the participants wrote:
“Well done - as a newcomer it was very helpful”;
“I got the chance to talk with the council members and find out what is happening at other sites.”;
“The plethora of wonderful information and the interaction/discussions with other sites”;
“Hearing other models, updating Medicare information, new program information”;
“educational”; “networking”; “better understanding of DRIS”;
“The anti-trust issue, new legislation, PSO-all informative”;
“Renewed energy in working in rural health problems. Broader understanding of problems. Feeling of not floundering”;
“Information from panel discussions and Ira Moscovice’s presentation”;
“Up-to-date information and overview of where each site is in the process, dynamics, problems and successes.”;
“Concise, no-holds-barred, info/opinions on issues facing rural communities with the changes in health care, welfare rural status etc.”;
“Overall perspective of the long ongoing process needed. More appreciation for DRIS flexibility in meeting unique challenges of each community”;
Recommendations from participants which we plan to address include: structured networking opportunities, more time for interactive areas in the program such as pull-out groups by disciplines, more discussion of network models, more consultation with experts on specific site issues, and more product development information.
Again, we thank all of the participants of the January Annual Conference for giving their time and energy, and for sharing their ideas, history and insights with the rest of us.
Sincerely,
Luisa Buada
CIRHM Executive Director
© CIRHM