July 23, 2019

It may feel like the Sahara when you step outside and you’re probably still planning a summer vacation; but ready or not, the first day of school is around the corner.

Thanks to the annual Back to School Fair, hosted by Texas Children’s Health Plan, our member families will be in great shape. The fair – taking place on three different days – will ensure that members have free backpacks, school supplies and are on the road to better health.

Health screenings and vaccines will also be available.

“We are so excited to once again host an event that means so much to our families,” said Alejandra Lima, event manager for Texas Children’s Health Plan. “Everyone knows that the first weeks of school set the tone for the rest of the year. We are proud to get our member families off to a strong start with our fair.”

Want to volunteer?
The planning team is still in need of volunteers for the events. Please check out the link below and sign up. As a Texas Children’s employee you are automatically cleared to volunteer and signing up is easy. Just click on the link below.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0F4EAAAC2AA31-events

Save the dates!

Port Arthur
Friday, July 26
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Central Mall
3100 FM 365
Port Arthur, Texas 77642

Pasadena
Saturday, August 3
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Macroplaza Mall
171 Pasadena Town Square Mall
Pasadena, TX 77506

Tyler
Saturday, August 10
8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
504 W. 32 Street
Tyler, TX 75702

Learn more about the event at healthy4school.org or call 1-800-990-8247.

Accreditations that highlight quality and performance are frequently earned at organizations like Texas Children’s. Our hospitals and many of our clinics hold credentials that show patients we’re the best.

And now it’s The Health Plan’s turn.

Texas Children’s Health Plan is beginning efforts to earn an accreditation through the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA surveyors will be on campus in April to see how our operations measure up.

“Our survey is in April,” said Dan Christopher, assistant director for Quality and Outcomes at The Health Plan. “However, it’s important for employees to understand that there is a “look back period”, which begins October 1. This means that we must have all of our I’s dotted and T’s crossed very shortly.”

To reach this goal, Christopher and his team have launched the Strive for Five campaign to not only rally Health Plan employees, but employees all across the Texas Children’s system.

“We are all interconnected. The quality of service that we provide Health Plan members is impacted by performance at Texas Children’s Hospital, Texas Children’s Pediatrics and all of our other partners,” Christopher added. “Earning this accreditation is a win for us all.”

Why Strive for Five?

The Strive for Five campaign name was born out of the 5.0 NCQA ranking that we are looking to achieve during the April accreditation. We currently sit at a 2.5.

How do we score higher?

NCQA surveyors will arrive one morning in April of 2020 and begin to review the quality of our operations as it pertains to our members. They will show up at the Bellaire office location and will focus on our performance in six areas. These are:

  • Effectiveness of Care
  • Availability of Care
  • Experience of Care
  • Utilization and Risk Adjusted Utilization
  • Health Plan Descriptive Information
  • Measures Collected Using Electronic Clinical Data Systems

We must do well in these areas to earn a higher score.

“An NCQA designation is important because it means we are meeting the minimum basic standards for the care of our members,” Christopher said. “Of course our goal is go beyond the minimums, but we have to reach this bar first. I know we can do it.”

Want more information?
Just sit tight. Frequent communications will be posted on Connect from now until April 2020.

July 8, 2019

Texas Children’s patient Eden Green visits Capitol Hill to advocate for graduate medical education funding.

Progress doesn’t just happen. It takes real conversations between people who care.

That’s exactly what happened recently when Texas Children’s Hospital patient Eden Green visited Washington, D.C., during the 15th annual Speak Now for Kids Family Advocacy Day.

The vibrant 14-year-old met with a handful of Texas lawmakers, including former Congressman Gene Green and Representatives Michael McCaul and Dan Crenshaw. She hopes her voice brings change and increased investment in pediatric cancer research.

Family Advocacy Day, hosted by the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA), was focused on ensuring that a federally-funded pediatrician training program receives an increase in financial support, among other issues.

According to CHA, the hospitals that receive Children’s Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) train approximately half of the nation’s pediatricians. Texas Children’s is one of those hospitals.

Increased CHGME funding helps recruit and retain the highest quality pediatricians.

A Young Advocate in the Making

Eden’s story is one we can all be proud of. In 2015 at just 10 years old, she was diagnosed with a rare tumor – so rare it still doesn’t have a name. It had spread throughout her body. An individualized treatment plan was drafted by the Rare Tumors and Neuroblastoma Programs at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, which included many rounds of chemotherapy and hip surgery.

Eden was cancer free for nearly two years when she relapsed in June 2018. Thanks to funding by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), Eden had the opportunity to participate in a novel clinical trial at Texas Children’s Cancer Center for pediatric patients with relapsed disease that allowed her to go into remission for the second time.

Dr. Jennifer Foster, who is Eden’s pediatric oncologist at Texas Children’s, couldn’t be prouder of her patient’s trip to D.C. Foster said she often urges patients and medical professionals to get involved in the legislative process.

“As medical professionals, we can all advocate at a patient level, but we won’t experience any real change on a global level until we tap into the policy side of health care,” Foster said. “There is so much we can do as pediatricians and getting involved in the political process is part of that.”

Foster goes on to say that everyone can help the cause in their own way.

“Eden is an incredibly dynamic individual – truly someone who lights up a room when she walks in. Speaking out and interacting with people is one of her gifts and she’s using it to give back to Texas Children’s.”

You can also help.

Texas Children’s is a hospital that receives CHGME funding. You can help the cause! Let your voice be heard, here: https://actnow.io/m8pHocn

July 1, 2019

Texas Children’s Health Plan is launching a campaign to educate consumers about the importance of having health insurance.

The Get Insured campaign urges families to “Have a better plan for your kids” and will run from now until September 1.

“Texas has the highest percentage of people without health insurance in the United States and a large percent of these are children,” said Cristina Garcia-Gamboa, Texas Children’s Health Plan Marketing Director. “Applying for CHIP and Medicaid is a lengthy and daunting process and we want consumers to know we are here to help.”

“The goal of Get Insured is to educate families eligible for CHIP or Medicaid of their options to manage care through our health plan and encourage parents to have a plan for their children. We are also tying our message back to the importance health coverage has on a child’s future,” Garcia-Gamboa added.

Through this campaign, The Health Plan is also touting the newly created application assistance team, which is available to help parents apply for CHIP or Medicaid. The goal is to make sure that children get quality health care and are protected through life’s unexpected moments.

The effort will run locally in the greater Houston service area across TV, radio, outdoor, digital, social media and grass roots efforts. The campaign is member-centric and addresses both the emotional and rational benefits of having a plan, complete with an easy phone number for potential members to call. (1-888-559-PLAN)

The two 30-second TV spots in both English and Spanish depicts children and expecting parents dreaming of their own/child’s future and how Texas Children’s Health Plan can help them achieve those goals.

Want to help? Here’s how you can show your support for Get Insured.

Refer a friend or family member to plan now. If you know someone who is uninsured, tell them to apply for Medicaid or CHIP. Remind them to plan now for the health of their family.

June 3, 2019

Texas Children’s® Health Plan members are now a secure video conference away from connecting with doctors and providers anytime, anywhere.

Through our very own Texas Children’s telehealth platform called Texas Children’s® Anywhere Care that was recently launched on May 22, Health Plan members will have the option of seeking urgent care services for certain conditions – like allergies, fever (in children older than 8 weeks), skin infections, pink eye, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea and more – via telehealth instead of in the emergency rooms, which will help to alleviate many barriers that our Medicaid patients currently face, like transportation.

“We want to ensure we provide the best care to our pediatric patients and women when they need it,” said Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald, Chief Medical Officer Pediatrics of Texas Children’s Health Plan. “For some of our Health Plan members, physical access to Texas Children’s can be difficult. Telehealth technology will enhance our current operations and allow us to improve the quality and access to care for children and pregnant women, while facilitating more efficient communication with patients and families.”

Health Plan members can register for the platform at www.texaschildrensanywherecare.org. Once the Texas Children’s Anywhere Care app – which will be available in Android and iPhone stores in the next few weeks – is downloaded onto a smart phone, they can connect with one of Texas Children’s telehealth physician partners via video for a consultation. This new telehealth option, available on demand in both English and Spanish, is not intended to replace a patient’s ongoing relationship with their primary care provider, but to supplement care when there are unavoidable gaps.

“Through our partnership with American Well, Texas Children’s Health Plan has access to providers in their Online Care Group which has enabled us to go live with 24/7 coverage for our urgent care visits,” said Laura Laux Higgins, director of Special Projects at Texas Children’s who co-leads the telehealth initiative at Texas Children’s under the supervision of the eHealth Executive Steering Committee. “As we expand our services, our long term goal is to build our own team of Texas Children’s e-health providers who are solely dedicated to telemedicine visits.”

Bringing telehealth services to the Health Plan would not have been possible without the collaboration from multiple departments across the system including Information Services, Legal, Finance, Treasury, Marketing, Texas Children’s Health Plan, Texas Children’s Pediatrics, and our Obstetrics-Gynecology, Quality and Safety teams.

“This project was not just about technology, but having the right vision, strategy and operational support to bring telehealth to Medicaid patients who comprise 85 percent of our Health Plan membership,” said Haley Jackson, senior project manager for Women’s Services and co-lead for the telehealth initiative. “This was a huge team effort across the board, and I am grateful for everyone’s support on this project.”

In September 2018, telehealth was also launched to all Texas Children’s employees and their eligible dependents who are enrolled in a Texas Children’s medical plan via Cigna, our health insurance provider. Employees who have used telehealth describe the service as a welcome addition to their Cigna benefits.

Click here to read a recent Connect article about Cigna Telehealth benefits. Click here for more information on Texas Children’s® Anywhere Care.

About Texas Children’s Health Plan

Texas Children’s Health Plan was founded in 1996 by Texas Children’s Hospital and is the nation’s first health maintenance organization created just for children. Texas Children’s Health Plan cover kids, teens, pregnant women, and adults. If a child is able to get Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Health Plan has a large group of more than 6,250 doctors, 7,811 specialists, 221 hospitals, and health resources to care for their needs. For more information, visit texaschildrenshealthplan.org.

May 6, 2019

Last year, Texas Children’s Health Plan celebrated the fifth anniversary of The Center for Children and Women. With two locations, the center has prospered and continues to provide high-quality community-based primary health care. Learn more by visiting our 2018 virtual Annual Report.

April 15, 2019

On April 2, in celebration of World Autism Awareness Day, representatives from BBVA Compass Stadium, KultureCity and Texas Children’s Health Plan unveiled the Texas Children’s Health Plan Family Suite at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the stadium.

Located in the northeast corner of the stadium outside of Section 220, the Texas Children’s Health Plan Family Suite includes a Sensory Room and a Mothers Room, making BBVA Compass Stadium the first sensory-inclusive facility in Major League Soccer. The Sensory Room was designed and installed in cooperation with KultureCity and Mothers Room at the BBVA Compass Stadium. KultureCity is the nation’s leading nonprofit dedicated to fight for inclusion and acceptance of all individuals, and advocates for those with sensory challenges such as autism and PTSD, just to name a few. It also provides training and equipment to public and private spaces in order to create an inclusive experience for everyone.

“KultureCity is truly honored to work with BBVA Compass Stadium and the Houston Dynamo to make them the first KultureCity Sensory-Inclusive MLS stadium. By recognizing this growing need and wanting to do something about it, they are truly putting their fans and guests first so that everyone regardless of their disabilities or sensory needs can be accepted and included,” said KultureCity co-founder Julian Maha, M.D. “This is a great day for the City of Houston and a great day for Major League Soccer in general. Thank you to the amazing team at the stadium and the entire Dynamo and Dash organization.”

The Mothers Room provides private space for mothers to nurse or pump while at the stadium and features seating for parent and child, as well as power outlets, a changing station and a television so mothers and children won’t miss a moment of game action.

In addition to the sensory room itself, the stadium will provide sensory bags created by KultureCity to guests who visit the space, and BBVA Compass Stadium and Houston Dynamo and Dash employees participated in sensory awareness training in order to understand how best to serve fans with unique needs and concerns.

“We take great pride in creating the most welcoming and inclusive atmosphere possible for all events at BBVA Compass Stadium, and we’re extremely excited about the addition of the Texas Children’s Health Plan Family Suite,” said Stadium Executive Vice President and General Manager Juan Rodriguez. “The Mothers Room will provide a private and comfortable space for women to care for their young children, and the Sensory Room affords fans with sensory needs the opportunity to step away if the sights and sounds inside the stadium become too much for them. We’re very grateful to the experts at KultureCity for their assistance in creating the space and training our staff.”

Since 2011, Texas Children’s Health Plan has been the official health insurance plan for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) of the Houston Dynamo, Houston Dash and BBVA Compass Stadium. In addition to the new Texas Children’s Health Plan Family Suite, the health plan also sponsors the Texas Children’s Health Plan Family Section, located in Section 201 on the southwest corner of the stadium.

“We are proud to be a sponsor of the Houston Dynamo and are very excited to be part of the new Sensory Room and Mother’s Room at BBVA Compass Stadium,” Vice-President of Texas Children’s Health Plan Sherry Vetter said. “This innovative space is consistent with our mission to create a healthier future for children and women throughout our global community. The dedicated Mother’s Room gives nursing moms a private place to care for their infants while staying connected to the match and the Sensory Room provides a sensory-sensitive space for parents and children to enjoy and engage in matches on their terms.”