Three Louisiana Organizations Receive National Award for Post-Katrina Improvements to Health Care

 

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum (LHCQF), the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), and a coalition of Greater New Orleans community health organizations are being honored with a 2010 Health Quality Award from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).  The Louisiana organizations are being recognized for their collaboration after Hurricane Katrina to develop and implement a community-based health care network focused on primary care and integrated behavioral health in New Orleans. Representatives from the Greater New Orleans area will receive the award at NCQA’s Health Quality Awards Dinner in Washington, DC on March 23. 

“After Hurricane Katrina, these organizations had the vision to build a health care system that was better than what existed before the storm,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “They brought high-quality care to the residents of New Orleans. Their success is an important and inspiring model for the rest of the country of what community-based health care can do.”

The coalition, comprised of 25 Greater New Orleans community health organizations, worked to open 93 health care delivery sites in some of the city’s most disadvantaged and storm devastated areas.  Dr. Donald Erwin, president and CEO of St. Thomas Community Health Center, will accept the award on behalf of the Greater New Orleans community health organizations.

The mission of the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) is to promote and improve health and quality of life in Louisiana through diverse public-private partnerships with government, foundations, community groups, academia and private businesses at the community, parish and state levels.

On behalf of the state, LPHI administers the federal Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant (PSASG) that funded the collaboration honored by the NCQA.  The $100 million dollar, three year federal grant program, awarded to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in July of 2007, was designed to meet the increasing demand for health care services in the four-parish Greater New Orleans area (Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes), provide high quality primary and behavioral health care at the community level, and decrease reliance on emergency rooms for conditions more appropriately treated in an outpatient setting.

 "We are honored to have been part of the unprecedented public-private partnership that effectively turned disaster into an opportunity to transform the health care delivery system in the Greater New Orleans area. We are hopeful the improvements will endure and continue to serve this community as it rebuilds and becomes healthier and stronger than ever before," said Clayton Williams, former director of the federal Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant (PCASG), Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI). Mr. Williams will accept the award on behalf of the Louisiana Public Health Institute.

The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, a private, not-for-profit organization was created after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 to lead evidence-based, collaborative initiatives to improve the health of Louisiana citizens. 

The LHCQF worked with the Louisiana Public Health Institute to develop guidelines required for practices receiving grant funds. Organizations that exceed the minimum quality standards and participate in a voluntary quality improvement incentive program (NCQA Physician Practice Connections®—Patient-Centered Medical Home™) are eligible for increased funding.

 “The opportunity to develop a health system remarkable for its innovation and efficiency has captured our imaginations not only in hurricane impacted areas, but across all corners of the state,” said Dr. DeSalvo, president-elect of the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum. Dr. DeSalvo will accept the award on behalf of the Quality Forum.

 “Our organization, with the support of providers statewide, will continue to work to lead the redesign of delivery systems to support patient centered, coordinated care for the improvement in quality and health outcomes,” said Cindy Munn, executive director of the Quality Forum. “We are honored to receive this award.”

Through the Health Quality Awards, the NCQA recognizes leaders and innovators who work to improve health care quality. Individuals who will be receiving  2010 Health Quality Awards include Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund; Governor James H. Douglas (R-Vermont); Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD;  and Governor Edward Rendell (D-Pennsylvania). 

Some of the past honorees include Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Fmr. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.