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Elizabeth Hertel, Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, says a new budget for the state expands resident’s access to behavioral health services; Taffany Huang, Nurse Consultant Specialist for the State of California...
Elizabeth Hertel, Director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, says a new budget for the state expands resident’s access to behavioral health services; Taffany Huang, Nurse Consultant Specialist for the State of California Department of Public Health, explains a new data system aimed to prevent childhood lead poisoning; a new ASTHO blog shares lessons learned from the U.S. Mpox outbreak and plans for moving forward; and public health agencies looking to hire can post their jobs on ASTHO’s Public Health Careers website.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services: Budget Roundtable
California Department of Public Health: Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention
ASTHO Webpage: Looking Back and Moving Forward from the U.S. Mpox Outbreak
ROBERT JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, September 14, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
ELIZABETH HERTEL:
Our goal when expanding services is to make sure that we are putting services in places that are convenient for people, that we're meeting people where they are.
JOHNSON:
Elizabeth Hertel is director of health and human services in Michigan, where the state is making big investments in behavioral health.
HERTEL:
The budget that the governor just signed for Michigan going into fiscal year 24 makes a significant number of investments in expanding access for behavioral health services for the residents of Michigan, specifically putting money towards the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic pilots.
JOHNSON:
The plan totals nearly $364 million. Hertel says the money will support services across the state.
HERTEL:
We look at either inner city or rural places where we know that we don't have as many health care providers in those areas, as well as looking at the Social Vulnerability Index established nationally. And then we target our funding toward those areas specifically and organizations who are able to expand services there.
JOHNSON:
The budget also provides unique opportunities to help Michigan's healthcare workers.
HERTEL:
Being able to help pay student loans for individuals who commit to providing services in underserved areas for a certain number of years; this has proven really successful with other clinical models and the introduction of this student loan repayment program was incredibly well-received by clinicians across the state.
JOHNSON:
Read more about Michigan's investment plan by clicking the link in the show notes.
California is using a free data system to help address childhood lead poisoning. The state and Riverside County are teaming up on the pilot project. Taffany Huang is a nurse consultant specialist for the state.
TAFFANY HUANG:
We integrated the Omaha System into the workflow for nurses, environmental professionals at the local program, supporting the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in Riverside County to collect high-quality data. That will help us understand their impact in terms of public health interventions.
JOHNSON:
The Omaha System uses standardized terminology to provide healthcare workers new insights that can help them do their work.
HUANG:
So, it was important to be able to collect data and abstract data. So, using the free text will make it nearly impossible to abstract and gain valuable insight in terms of the interventions and outcome hidden in these free texts. So, using their standardized terminology, like the Omaha System, improves the efficiencies to collect and demonstrate patient outcomes through data visualization.
JOHNSON:
And Huang says the project is going well.
HUANG:
For the first time, we were able to quantify, visualize and demonstrate core program interventions the public health program, and the nurses, and case management staff were consistently providing. And we were able to also show with statistical significance that they had an impact in terms of improving their knowledge on key areas for their interventions for the population served.
JOHNSON:
Also today, ASTHO is thinking about lessons learned from last year's Mpox outbreak. O'Keyla Cooper has more.
O'KEYLA COOPER:
The U.S. experienced its largest impacts outbreak in May 2022, highlighting health disparities particularly for gay, bisexual, and men of color. Despite declining numbers and vaccine efforts. state health agencies must ensure vaccine accessibility, maintain clear communication, and utilize resources provided by the CDC. In a new blog article, ASTHO shares lessons from the U.S. Mpox outbreak and plans for moving forward. You can read the full article by clicking the link in the show notes.
JOHNSON:
Finally this morning, public health agencies looking to fill positions can post their jobs on ASTHO's publichealthcareers.org website. Candidates can search open positions by title, keyword, location, or category. We've got the link in the show notes.
We'd also like to encourage you to follow ASTHO on social media. Connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
That will do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening into the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.
