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Winter 1999 ~ Vol 2, #1
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Dear Friend,
This issue of our newsletter highlights DRIS from the perspective of the Local Coordinators, who serve as full time Initiative staff, living and working in the DRIS Initiative communities. We also examine prevention and early intervention planning in Humboldt-Del Norte from the voice of Don Avant, a member of the Regional Health Council. We look at what an Administrative Services Organization (ASO) is and is not. In the DRIS Update, Mike Fadden, the Feasibility Consultant, discusses the iterative process of community feedback for the feasibility process. Our photos illuminate Community Health Council (CHC) volunteers involved in committee work.
Since our summer issue, the DRIS sites have continued to refine the scope and strategy of their projects. We have found, in the course of putting together these business ventures, that the time frame of nine months to one year for completing the feasibility and business planning stages of the Initiative is too optimistic. Due to the iterative nature of the feasibility and business planning process, continuous feedback and input from the CHCs as well as from potential purchasers and future network providers has been necessary to shape a product which is potentially viable. The interjection of the reality of competition in the market, changes in leadership, ongoing health plan contract management and day-to-day business events all affect the time and attention volunteer CHC members have to devote to the complex task of business development.
Feasibility studies, as well as business planning, continue in three of the four communities. All are forging ahead slowly, but with enthusiasm, involvement and steady progress. As the shape of the business ventures becomes more defined, governance structure is expected to be resolved and pre-operational planning efforts initiated.
As of December 31, 1998, Siskiyou County, by mutual agreement, is no longer a participant in the DRIS Initiative. Siskiyou will carry on with its Community Health Plan of the Siskiyous (CHPS) program, which, in its current stage, offers a provider network to self-insured employers. CIRHM wishes CHPS every success in carrying out its endeavors in and on behalf of the Siskiyou community. We look forward to Siskiyou joining with us and all of the participants of the DRIS Initiative from the past two years at our 2nd Annual DRIS Conference, to be held at the Waterfront Plaza Hotel, at Jack London Square in Oakland, January 28th through January 30th, 1999. Foundation Representatives, Officers of State and Local Government, and Health Plan representatives will also join us at the conference.
Sincerely,
Luisa Buada
CIRHM Executive Director
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| Imperial Valley Health Advisory Council Meeting, April 1998 |
© CIRHM