(Nov. 22, 2024) – A few years ago, during the development of the Kansas Hospital Association's strategic plan, the KHA Board of Directors added a new element … a Strategic Aim. The aim to "improve Kansas' statewide health ranking with a focus on preventive health services" was implemented in 2022. I want to use today's column to summarize KHA's work and outcomes related to the strategic aim over the last several years.
The strategic aim provides our association an opportunity to focus on the declining health status in Kansas during the last 30 years and rally KHA members and partners to work together to improve the overall health of Kansans. After reaching a high of eighth in the nation in 1991, Kansas declined more than any other state throughout the next 30 years to a low of 31st in health in 2022. We were pleased to see Kansas' health ranking improved from 31st in 2022 to 29th in 2023.
Through the strategic aim, KHA focused on preventive services hospitals provide to improve the health of their patients and communities while also providing opportunities to support population health and efforts to reduce disparities in care. One result of these efforts has been increased attention on Kansas' health ranking by the Kansas Health Foundation. Last year, KHF announced its organization's new strategic framework, which includes leading the nation in health. In their announcement, KHF emphasized that Kansas' current health ranking of 29th nationally is unacceptable, and the drive to rank first will motivate and inform all of KHF's work.
KHA has directed our efforts to various cross-functional areas that support KHA's strategic aim, including data, advocacy, communications and education. This work has centered on providing tools to help our members as they work to improve the health of Kansans, increase preventive services rates, education and resources for population health and health equity-related work, and advocacy for appropriate reimbursement to hospitals for the provision of preventive services and addressing social determinants of health.
Essential data tools and resources to support health improvement work include KHA's benchmarking tool, QHI, Advantage Optics and Kansas Health Matters. In QHi, KHA added measures to support the Fourth Trimester Initiative, which aimed to improve maternal health outcomes in Kansas. 42 Kansas birthing hospitals, representing more than 90 percent of births in Kansas, participated in the Fourth Trimester Initiative.
KHA staff also collaborated with our partners at the Kansas Healthcare Collaborative to develop quality and safety reporting stratified by race and ethnicity to help hospitals identify disparities in care. Another vital collaboration with KHC related to using data to identify disparities in care is a pilot of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality prevention and quality measures for emergency departments.
County health rankings are another critical way to trend health status in Kansas. KHA has partnered with the Kansas Health Institute to promote KHI's County Health Profiles through launch events in partnership with Kansas hospital sites. KHA and Healthworks, through the Kansas Rural Hospitals Optimizing Performance program, partnered with KHI in 2023 to conduct an updated population health survey and published a population health issue brief on survey findings.
The Healthy Kansas Hospitals program, supported through Healthworks, provides site visits and consultation regarding employee health and wellness. KHA's Optimal Health Committee also supports these efforts by providing guidance and input on hospital policies and practices to encourage healthy lifestyles for hospital employees, patients and visitors; making statewide policy and strategy recommendations to improve the health of all Kansans; and developing resources and education to assist hospitals with improving the health of the communities they serve.
KHA's Walk With A Doc initiative, funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Blue Health Initiatives, had 21 hospitals create Walk with Doc chapters and host 206 walk events, with 4,137 participants. With the remaining grant funds, KHA requested and received approval to build a further mini-grant program to support KHA member hospitals. The mini-grant program was launched in July 2024, and in two weeks, 21 grants were successfully awarded to KHA member hospitals in support of health improvement work.
Another extensive effort aligned with the strategic aim was the three-year Immunization Enhancement grant work KHA has completed through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Kansas Department of Health and Environment grant. The grant was focused on increasing immunizations throughout the lifespan. KHA collaborated with the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians and the Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to form the Be Immune Kansas partnership and resources. Additionally, KHA partnered with the Immunize Kansas Coalition to sponsor two Vaccination Community Navigator Program trainings this past spring and purchased 500 copies of each of the English and Spanish translations of the reference guide Vaccine Fears Overturned by Facts.
Much progress has been made in the Kansas health rankings over the last three years. Many other Kansas stakeholders are now engaged in partnerships to improve Kansas' health status and outcomes, notably the state of Kansas through the Healthy Kansas 2030 efforts and the Kansas Health Foundation. This has made leading the nation in health one of their primary focus areas. KHA will continue to advocate for and provide resources and tools for Kansas hospitals as we work toward optimal health for Kansas. Thank you for your partnership in this journey!
--Chad Austin