Economic Barriers to Access

Profile: The New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative

Working together to improve patient care through better use of Health Information Technology and ePrescribing: From left to right are Diane Arsenault, M.D., Mid-State Health Center family practice physician; Patrick Miller, Research Associate Professor at UNH Institute of Health Policy and Practice; Mid-State CEO Sharon Beaty, a member of the Health Information Technology/Health Information Exchange Strategic Plan Working Group; and Phil Boulter, M.D., chair of the Initiative’s Quality & Efficiency policy team.

Founded in 2005, The NH Citizens Health Initiative (the Initiative)seeks to create a system of care that promotes health, where quality is assured and care is accessible, affordable, effective, and safe. The Initiative is the result of a partnership with the State of New Hampshire, the University of New Hampshire's Institute for Health Policy and Practice, and the Endowment for Health.

As an outgrowth of another Endowment effort known as The Pillars Project, the Initiative builds on efforts to bolster the "pillars" of the health care system -- access, financing, and quality.  In order to address these fundamental issues, a long-term, sustainable effort was necessary. The result was formation of the Initiative whose focus is on creating and sustaining the public dialogue to measurably improve the "systems" that finance and provide health care in New Hampshire.  Two primary goals of the Initiative are to assure a healthy population and to create an effective system of care.

The work of the Initiative has been organized around three policy teams: 1) health promotion and disease prevention, 2) quality and efficiency, and 3) finance, transparency, and technology. The policy teams in turn focus on specific projects such as physical activity & nutrition, ePrescribing, strengthening the state’s primary care work force, creating medical homes, adopting health information technology, and creating system transparency.

Mid-State Health Center in Plymouth, NH, is a model example of the future of primary care. The center has implemented ePrescribing, electronic medical records and pay-for-performance programs. They are also participating in a patient-centered “medical home” pilot program and are considered a leader in the integration of mental and behavioral health services into primary care. In addition, Mid-State Health Center recently received a Federal planning grant earlier to develop a plan for interconnectivity of clinical and administrative data between providers in the Plymouth area.