Group 1: Information Base for Low-Income Adults in Los Angeles

Build a shared information and analytic capacity about the health, health needs, and health resources of low-income adults. This information base and analytic capacity would be a shared resource for all efforts by the Collaborative to address the health and health care needs of low-income adults. In addition to a basic information base, it could be expanded to reflect the strategic issues being addressed by other activities of the LA Health Collaborative.

Scope

Create a shared information base about low-income adults in LA County. This should be a dynamic, growing resource that includes research reports, analysis, and interpretation, both at a system and a policy level. The information base could serve as a resource for joint planning efforts in many different contexts. It would have a base set of information to characterize the existing situation and trends, as well as be expanded to answer strategic questions in response to specific activities of the Collaborative. It would include:

· Information about the demographics of low-income adults in LA County, their geography, health needs (met and unmet) including mental health and disability, and the resources available to meet those needs.

· Information about financing and the quality of care this population receives.

· A catalog of existing activities and projects that attempt to meet their needs, as well as safety net innovations from other locations.

· Population data, as well as administrative and intervention data from service providers.

· In certain domains, benchmarks or targets and track progress of the region toward those targets.

· Gaps in information that would help for decision-making, for example in outpatient specialty care.

· Monitoring and tracking of policy proposals

This activity could be launched rapidly and put in place within 6 months. The Data Resources Group could provide direction and oversight. End users of the data would be consulted about what types of questions they might ask of the information base and what decisions it might inform. A contractor might be engaged to collate information and to provide analysis.

Desired Outcomes

The overall objective would be to create an evidence base that could inform all actions of the Collaborative, as well as to identify needed research. The activity will have several more specific objectives:

· Identify the priority health and health care needs

· Show the “landscape” of the issues for low-income adult health in LA. At two levels—the actual resources and gaps in those resources (such as facilities and workforce), as well as a guide to the data, policy, and other information resources available

· Identify promising strategies for coalition-building, developing interventions, and disseminating them

· Engage members of the Collaborative, broader community members, and policy makers through discussions of the evidence developed

Work Plan/Timing

Engage the members of the Collaborative who met on this issue, as well as the Data Resources Group, and others as needed, including, possibly, outside contractors.

1) Catalog existing data and studies, including from TCE, UCLA, DHS, CHCF, National Health Foundation, Rand, etc. Identify and disseminate sources of information on policy. Update the LA County Safety Net report (UCLA, 1994)

2) Identify the key information needs for the Collaborative’s other priority activities

3) Make all data available through a data portal on the Web (perhaps building from the existing LA Health Action website now used by the Collaborative)

4) Create a “landscape map” of existing needs and resources

5) Create a regular (perhaps monthly) seminar series on information, policy, and strategies

6) Engage community members and policy makers in a dialogue about information available and information needs

Partcipation

The members of the group who worked on this plan, along with the members of the Data Resources group of the Collaborative, should each identify data sources, suggest speakers for the seminar series, and review work that is done for the Collaborative. Additionally, several other organizations should be engaged:

· California DHS

· Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty

· Insure the Uninsured

· USC (Walter Zelman)

· UCLA (Neil Richmond)

· Veterans Administration

· Health Access

· PHI (Kevin Barnett)


Next Steps

· Write a work plan for the core information base process. Work with members of the groups on Technology (#2) and Geographic Focus (#3) to identify their directions and specific information needs.

· Identify internal and external resources needed for the information base, including a possible contractor.

· Expand the network to include those mentioned above.

Participants at March 15 Meeting

· Marilyn Holle, Protection and Advocacy

· Lynn Kersey, MCH Access

· Stewart Kwoh, Asian Pacific American Legal Center

· Steven Wallace, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

· Kathy Ochoa, SEIU Local 660

· Irene Dyer, LAC DHS

· Carol Roeloffs, LAC DMH

· Tenzing Donyo, TCE