September Technical Council Activity Summary
/Board of Directors - 9/5
The Board of Directors meeting resumed after taking the month of August off. The meeting started with a presentation by Julie Distel, of Planned Parenthood. This presentation went over how them being one of BHT’s contracted partners has helped them provide services such as Behavioral Health and Diabetes Screenings, that their patients would otherwise never access to.
The Board was then lead through a brief Equity practice, as ground-setting for future equity work. Next month’s Board meeting will begin with an Equity portion as we work towards eliminating inequities in the healthcare system.
The Board was then given updates on Equity Projects, Medicaid Transformation, and Strategy Framing. Better Health Together has agreed to focus on Social Determinants of Health, Behavioral Health Access, and Equity as our main three lines of work.
Waiver Finance Workgroup - 9/18
We kicked off Waiver Finance by sharing news that BHT has hired a new CFO, Kim Heath to join the team and help us transition all of our financials in-house. Alison shared a January-June budget review. In general, BHT is tracking below budget projections. The Finance Committee will have January –August financials for the September finance committee
The HCA will also now allow ACHs to earn interest on the dollars earned but not spent in the FE Portal. BHT may earn interest on our current balance as long as we do not just “sit” on the dollars to earn interest, and continue to use them to the benefit of our community.
Community Voices Council - 9/19
The CVC welcome its 3 newest members, Mike Stinson, Barb Mullen, and Jami Austing.
Jami Austing from World Relief presented on the Medicaid Experience for Refugees in Spokane. The issue she brought to attention is that mainly there are not enough translators and DSHS does not want to send trainers/certifiers to Spokane regularly. This creates a major access issue for refugees in our region.
Tribal Partners Leadership Council - 9/19
This month the Tribal Partners Leadership Council provided feedback on the latest BHT initiatives including the upcoming SDoH strategy, equity strategy, and behavioral health access strategy. There are several Tribal partners who expressed interest in submitting a proposal related to the SDoH strategy, specifically to address transportation needs. The recently released equity assessment is being circulated through each of our Tribal partners organizations, and we are excited to see who pursues a specific equity project!
Public Policy Committee - 9/24
The Public Policy Committee officially launched in September. The group discussed what we hope to accomplish and potential guiding principles we want to set. Erica Hallock, a consulting policy advisor for BHT, gave an overview of expectations for the 2020 legislative session, and potential target policy issues were discussed.
The group will convene again on 10/16 for an in-person work session to determine a draft framework and structure for the committee, while also firming up 2020 Legislative interests.