Cuyahoga Health Access Partnership: Developing an access program in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

The Cuyahoga Health Access Partnership (CHAP) is a joint public-private partnership focused on access to care for the uninsured in Cuyahoga County. CHAP was founded on the principle of shared responsibility of all healthcare organizations to face the uninsured crisis in Ohio and the United States. Partners include safety net providers, major hospital systems, government entities, health plans, foundations and other relevant organizations. The vision of CHAP is to provide a system of health access for the adult uninsured to replace the current fragmentation in the health sector. While principally focused on strengthening primary care, the vision of coordinated, patient-centered care extends through the entire spectrum of service. The first major initiative of CHAP is to develop and implement a health access plan (scheduled for implementation Spring 2010). For the first year, program enrollment will be limited to County residents at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level between the ages of 19 and 64 who do not qualify for public health insurance and who do not have private coverage. CHAP provides immediate benefit to the community by: 1) Standardizing the enrollment and eligibility process across the provider network for patients; 2) Developing continuity of care across the primary and specialty care provider networks; and 3) Reducing reliance on episodic emergency department visits in favor of primary care homes for acute, non-life-threatening and chronic problems. CHAP builds on the safety net system to make care more accessible for the uninsured. It strengthens existing care systems to promote timely access to appropriate care, encouraging prevention, early detection, whole-person oriented chronic care and the appropriate use of public and private resources.