Author Archive
2019: A Year of Collaborative Impact
As we move into a new decade, I want to reflect on our impact this past year and highlight the goals and challenges ahead. Looking back, we have achieved significant accomplishments and clearly our collective voices are being heard. Many of our Medicaid Policy Center recommendations have turned into public policy. For instance, the state…Read More…
Nicholson Foundation Changed Lives by Strengthening Systems
I invite you all to read our Take Five with Jan Nicholson, President of The Nicholson Foundation. The organization plans to commit its last grants next year and close its office in Newark at the end of 2021. The Foundation will leave a legacy that cannot be easily measured — certainly not in brick and…Read More…
Take Five Interview with Jan Nicholson
For nearly 20 years, The Nicholson Foundation has worked to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable populations in New Jersey. The Foundation recently announced that it would commit its last grants through the middle of 2020 and close its Newark office at the end of 2021. We spoke to Jan Nicholson, President of the…Read More…
Take Five Interview with Marcela Ospina Maziarz, MPA
Marcela Ospina Maziarz, MPA, is the Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health. We know that the Health Resources and Service Administration, part of the federal government, selected New Jersey as one of nine states to receive a grant to improve maternal health. Can you tell us how New Jersey is using…Read More…
Health Care Community Must Have A Greater Role In Medical Marijuana Policy
Medical marijuana is a multi-faceted issue. It’s now legal for a range of medical conditions under the recently expanded New Jersey state law, but continues to be illegal under federal law. Health care facilities are unsure what to do when, say, a cancer patient, clearly benefiting from using marijuana at home, is admitted. Can they…Read More…
Most New Jersey Hospitals Receive A or B Grades, But Safety Concerns Remain at Some Hospitals
THE LEAPFROG GROUP ANNOUNCES FALL 2019 HOSPITAL SAFETY GRADES PRINCETON — November 7, 2019 – The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing the nation’s largest and most influential employers and purchasers of health care, today announced the Fall 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. The independent grading system assigns “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” and “F” letter…Read More…
Take Five Interview with Don Liss
Don Liss, M.D., is Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, a member of the Quality Institute’s Leadership Council. In this interview, he talks about the challenges of providing high quality health care that’s still affordable. You recently returned to New Jersey. Can you tell us what you…Read More…
How to Advance an Unbiased Approach to Care
Today, I am turning this space over to Kate Shamszad, MS, MPH, who is a Senior Program Officer at the Quality Institute’s Medicaid Policy Center. Kate led a workshop yesterday at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital on Reflective Supervision, which is a way for clinicians to examine their own biases and improve care for patients….Read More…