Commonwealth Care Alliance

CCA has been named a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion with a score of 100 on the 2024 Disability Equality Index® (DEI) by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability:IN! “Our commitment to fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and a culture of excellence internally helps us build a workforce that reflects the people we serve and drives CCA’s mission of supporting our members and patients with empathy, care, and understanding. We are honored to receive this recognition for our efforts to create a more inclusive workplace for colleagues with diverse abilities, whose valued perspectives and skills contribute to our organization and model of care each day,” says Chris Palmieri, CCA President and CEO. Thank you to all our CCA employees who contribute to ensuring a more inclusive working environment that better meets the needs of all! #DEI24 https://lnkd.in/etCNxqHN

CCA has expanded its provider agreement with South Shore Health to include its Senior Care Options (SCO) network. CCA SCO members will now benefit from the services of over 200 providers, including 50 primary care physicians, from across the South Shore and Southeastern Massachusetts. “Broadening this agreement to include access for our SCO members will allow CCA to further support the medical, social, and behavioral health needs of patients across Southeastern Massachusetts. Ensuring access to high-quality care is a top priority for CCA and we are thrilled that more CCA members will now be able to receive advanced, connected, high-quality care at South Shore Health locations,” says Mark Waggoner, General Manager, CCA Massachusetts. Read the press release for more information on this partnership: https://lnkd.in/emBNJyXs

This Fourth of July, as we commemorate America’s independence, we want to highlight one of our members who was able to fulfill his own American dream with the support of one of CCA’s Community Health Workers, Maria. Oscar is a Senior Care Options member who immigrated from Peru years ago. He speaks Spanish and is living with a cancer diagnosis while also supporting his adult daughter with autism. In addition to supporting Oscar as he navigates treatment for his cancer, Maria also connected him to the Center for New Americans, a community organization based in western Massachusetts. Thanks to both the Center for New Americans assistance and Maria’s consistent support, Oscar’s immigration papers were processed, and he was sworn in as a US Citizen on May 7. Maria was there to witness this inspiring event and extend her heartfelt congratulations. Thank you, Maria, for going above and beyond for our members, and congratulations to Oscar on this milestone!

Many people inaccurately equate palliative care with hospice and end of life. They also assume that receiving palliative care will deny them access to treatments for serious illnesses. To explore this further, the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) released a report in partnership with ATI Advisory titled, “Opportunities for Improving Access to Palliative Care for Dual Eligible Individuals with Serious Illness.” The report highlights barriers dual eligible individuals often experience when accessing palliative care and opportunities for CMS, state Medicaid agencies, and D-SNPs to promote access to palliative care for dual eligible individuals. Thank you to the CCA team who contributed to this report by providing insights around working with dual eligible individuals with serious illnesses and operational insights into our palliative care program. Read the report: https://lnkd.in/eWF3Uw3r

CCA prioritizes health education as a way to support independent, community-based living and is one part of our larger integrated care model that provides behavioral, medical, and social supports for whole-person care. Through a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, CCA will be providing culturally and linguistically appropriate educational programming and support services to seniors. Residents at Sycamore House and Pulaski Heights in Holyoke, Linden Towers and Baystate Place in Springfield, will be invited to attend workshops on fall prevention, nutrition, maximizing SNAP benefits, adaptive community gardening, flu clinics, digital literacy, and translation services for mail and other documents, regardless of their health insurer. Learn more about CCA’s work around place-based supports: https://lnkd.in/eeae_Ktb

CACP is delighted to welcome our new board members! This team of passionate, empathic leaders advising and supporting our staff is essential to the CACP goal of seeing the voices of people with lived expertise elevated to help transform health care. Dr. Nazlim Hagmann MD, MPH, MBA, MS is the Chief Medical Officer at Commonwealth Care Alliance, applying her behavioral health and Public Psychiatry experience to CCA’s mission to innovate health plans and care delivery programs designed for individuals with the most significant needs. Nazlim, thank you for lending your skills and expertise to make health care more accessible and effective. Welcome to the team! Stay tuned as we announce a new member each day this week. #healthcare #livedexperience #cacp #inclusivecare #healthcareconsulting #cca

Thank you AHIP for inviting Lauren Easton, CCA Senior Vice President of Integrative Program Development and Clinical Innovation, to speak at the AHIP 2024 conference! Lauren joined healthcare leaders from Pallet, Boston Health Care for the Homeless, and AHIP for a conversation about how housing stability impacts health outcomes and the importance of meeting people where they are. 

Mark Dwinnells, CCA Senior Director of Regulatory Compliance and National Medicaid Compliance Officer, will be speaking at this week’s RISE Appeals and Grievances Summit. Mark’s session, “Navigating the Regulatory Landscape of Appeals and Grievances,” will touch on recent changes in regulation, maintaining compliance while adapting to new CMS and OCR guidelines, and the role of analytics in ensuring regulatory adherence and minimizing risk.

Historically, women’s health has been underrepresented in research and medical training, leading to the creation of protocols and diagnoses centered on how men react to treatment and report symptoms. A 2024 report by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the McKinsey Health Institute, found that globally, women spend 25% more time living in “poor health” than men do. Dr. Laura Clapper, Medical Director for CCA Health California, is highlighting the importance of women’s health in an article for The Outlook: https://lnkd.in/e-FJDhYG

Happy Juneteenth! Today we celebrate and honor the day when federal troops arrived in Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed, effectively ending slavery in the United States. #Juneteenth