Alaska’s Statewide Health Improvement Plan (HA2030) https://healthyalaskans.org is a Roadmap for advancing population health and to promote and ensure health equity for all Alaskans.
The plan was developed by an equal partnership between the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS).
To develop the statewide health improvement plan and evaluate the most important health issues impacting Alaska’s Health and Public Health System, the Healthy Alaskans Core Team completed a State Health Assessment and Evaluation.
Once the HA2030 health objectives were agreed on, several subject matter expert work groups were convened and selected appropriate and achievable targets for each objective. Next, they identified evidence-based and research informed strategies and actions so that organizations and communities will be able to work on today and in the coming years.
One of the first goals is to increase the number of women who will receive prenatal care beginning in the first trimester, reduce hospitalizations by using high quality primary and preventive care, and reduce the percentage of the population without health insurance.
Another goal is to deal effectively with chronic disease management as a preventive measure to hospitalization. The goals are to increase referrals to educational and support groups for individuals with diabetes, and/or develop or expand organized coalitions focused on diabetes, heart disease, cancer, chronic conditions, infectious diseases, mental health issues, and SDOH.
The next step is to improve care coordination, community care transitions and complex case management by developing a statewide closed loop referral management system that includes healthcare, public health, and social services with partners. The partners are to include the State of Alaska Division of Public Health, Alaska Primary Care Association, ANTHC, and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and the Division of Behavioral Health.
In order to improve coordination, it is also important to implement and monitor the Alaska Patient-Centered Medical Home Initiative as it encompasses comprehensive care, patient-centered care, coordinated care, and accessible services along with quality and safety.
In addition, the plan is to enable the supply of primary care providers to be increased by administering loan repayment and financial incentives for recruitment and retention. It is also important to increase training and education opportunities for healthcare professionals and paraprofessionals through healthcare degree and certificate programs available in the state.
In order to improve insurance coverage for Alaskans who have financial barriers to care, it is important to expand and/or increase health insurance enrollment outreach and support programs. The goal is to increase capacity and resources for FQHCs, public and private non-profit healthcare organizations that receive federal funding in order to deliver comprehensive care to uninsured, underinsured, and vulnerable patients regardless of their ability to pay in high need communities.