Public Health Department

“…working to enhance our community’s total well-being by promoting healthy lifestyles, protecting health, and preventing disease.”

Children's Special Health Care Services

UPDATE 2008

Children’s Special Health Care Services (CSHCS) is a program within the Michigan Department of Community Health designed to serve children and some adults with their special health care needs and families. CSHCS can assist people with chronic health problems by providing a variety of services, including:

Paying specialty medical bills;
Coordinating services with multiple doctors;
Connecting children and families with specialty providers;
Coordinating health insurance benefits, if there are any; and
Covering co-pays or deductibles.

For the past two years the CSHCS Representative has worked with Regional Health Alliance Access to Care Issue Action Group. In February 2008 Access to Care a list of goals were developed for 2008. One of those goals led to the Connecting Calhoun County (CCC) initiative. The initiative’s purpose is to increase access to health care services to those in need by marketing the many programs that are available in our community through 211. The organizations and programs participating with CCC were asked to set measurable goals for calendar year 2008 that would show improved access and/or services within their organizations.

CSHCS goals for calendar year 2008 are:

Increase billable encounters by 20%
Increase caseload by 5% (approximately 24 clients)

CSHCS billable encounters for 2008 are currently at $5,830 with four months remaining. Last year the total billed was $5,380. The activities that helped facilitate this increase included outreach efforts to the existing clients by the CSHCS staff. Instead of sending yearly mailings to clients to update their demographic information, the staff made personal phone calls. By doing this, the clients were able to familiarize themselves with the local office and earn the trust of the representative and nurse. The clients learned that advocates in the local office are willing to support them in their role as the primary caretaker of their child(ren). We also noticed an increase in encounters due to the relocation of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Having WIC and CSHCS in the same location has enabled the staff to provide both services in one encounter. A new paperless system was provided to CSHCS which helps with time management increasing CSHCS efficiency.

While the current caseload has remained constant, upcoming events and activities hope to increase the caseload. The 211 Call Center is hosting a series of 10 health enrollment events throughout Calhoun County occurring through the 2008 fall and winter months. These events were advertised in the Battle Creek Shopper, Marshall AdVisor, and Albion Morningstar and flyers were distributed across the county in key places. The first event was held in Battle Creek and approximately 42 people were able to obtain services through all participating agencies. By participating in these events, CSHCS will reach more community members and potentially enroll new clients. CSHCS is also sending mailings to area businesses, churches, townships, and schools hoping to increase awareness of the program and thus, increasing enrollment.

For more information, contact (269) 969-6390 or via email to kmorris@calhouncountymi.gov.

Calhoun County
315 West Green Street
Marshall, MI 49068
Phone: (269) 781-0700
Fax: (269) 781-0140

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