Publications

Evaluation of the First 18 Months of the Health Rights Hotline: A Pilot Independent Assistance Program of the Center for Health Care Rights

January 2000

This report is the final report of The Lewin Group's evaluation of the Health Rights Hotline, an independent, privately funded pilot program that provides assistance and information to all health care consumers in the Sacramento, California area. The Hotline is a project of the Center for Health Care Rights, a California-based consumer advocacy organization, and Legal Services of Northern California. The Hotline, and the independent evaluation prepared by The Lewin Group, were both funded by a consortium of California health foundations: The California Wellness Foundation, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Sierra Health Foundation. The foundations sponsored the Hotline as a way of testing one approach to helping patients navigate the health care system, and rationalizing the patchwork of resources available to assist consumers. In addition to providing services, the Hotline seeks to model philosophical, practical, and programmatic elements for consideration by other organizations elsewhere in California and the United States.

Client Area: Foundations

Care Management Programs for the Uninsured with a Conceptual Framework and Sample Tools to Guide Development

January 2000

This report is designed to help the executive leadership of safety-net organizations assess the benefits of, and determine whether or not to invest in, care management programs. It also provides a "road map" for the design and implementation of care management programs. The report explains the business environment that supports investments in care management programs for the indigent, chronically ill, uninsured population. Additionally, it draws on the experiences of safety-net providers to help decision-makers assess the value of these programs in their environment. Using results from expert interviews, case studies, site visits, and the successes and challenges of 24 safety-net providers, the how-to guide specifically describes how care management programs are developed and provides a sampling of tools designed by health centers, hospital networks, and health plans to enable others to build on these efforts.

Client Area: Foundations
Expertise Area: Health Reform