177908 Improving access to health care for all Vermonters: Assessing knowledge about Catamount Health

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Morgan J. Carlson , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Lisa G. Chui , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Walter F. DeNino , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Neel K. Kapasi , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Amy L. McGettrick , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Adrienne S. Pahl , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Trevor R. Pour , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Heidi Schumacher , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Serena Chaudhry, MPH, MSW , Peace and Justice Center, Burlington, VT
Burton Wilcke, PhD , University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Jan Carney, MD, MPH , College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Recently Vermont created Catamount Health (CH) to help close the gap for uninsured Vermonters. CH combines private insurance with state premium assistance. CH was implemented October 1, 2007. Despite press coverage, it was unclear how knowledgeable health care providers (HCPs) and community-based organization (CBOs) were about CH. This study was carried out to determine that level of knowledge. A survey was designed and distributed to both HCPs and CBOs in 7 of Vermont's 14 counties. Using a Likert scale, respondents' familiarity with CH was graded. Demographic and practice data were collected on HCPs. Respondents were asked how they first became aware of CH and how they could be further educated. 99 surveys were returned. The results indicated a poor understanding on the part of both HCPs and CBOs, with an average familiarity of 1.95 (scale of 1-4). There were no statistically significant differences between HCPs and CBOs among any of the nine indicators of understanding. While most respondents had at least some prior knowledge of CH, about one in six (16.4%) HCPs indicated no knowledge of the plan. Despite a low level of knowledge about CH program specifics about half of the participants (52.7%) felt confident in their ability to access information on CH. The knowledge level about CH among HCPs and CBOs will likely change significantly as more patients become enrolled, and education is targeted to HCPs and CBOs. Future surveys using this baseline data can be conducted to assess the impact of education targeting these groups.

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify the major programmatic components of Catamount Health. 2. Describe the survey instrument used to assess knowledge about Catamount Health. 3. Discuss the self-reported knowledge levels about Catamount Health among both health care providers and community-based organizations in Vermont. 4. Assess the need for further targeted education about Catamount Health.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Providers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was a lead participant in the survey that was conducted for HCPs and CBOs around knowledge of Catamount Health
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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