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Shared Solutions:
New Mexico's Model to
Improve Health Care
for the Unisured
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In 1998 the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center was awarded a five-year, $3.8 million grant by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. New Mexico ranks third nationally in its poverty rate, and first in its population that is uninsured (25%). It is a geographically large state, with half of its population in rural communities. Its large minority population (second in the US with 38% Hispanic, 9% Native American, and 2% African American) presents unique challenges to the health systems.
Five features characterize NM's proposal:
- Achieving at the county level universal coverage by establishing a managed approach to the uninsured funded by public resources (based on the UNM Care Program model).
- Creating a "health commons" in which different provider groups in a geographic area plan cooperatively and assume fiscal and quality accountability for their uninsured population. The health commons consists of pooling of resources to assure medical, behavioral, social, case management, and oral health services in enhanced, primary care community based sites.
- Establishing a network of community oriented clinics responding to community driven needs.
- Investing in dissemination of the integrated model of care from urban to rural sites in NM and nationally.
- Enhancing UNMHSC's rural responsiveness.
Broad Outcomes - CVNM:
- Sustain increase in access to health services for vulnerable populations with a focus on primary care and prevention.
- Preserve and strengthen the community safety net.
- Changed the delivery system to increase efficiency while improving quality.
- Create replicable models utilizing a "Learning Laboratories" process.
For more information on the initiative:
- See map of Kellogg CV/ NM Shared Solutions target counties
- CV/NM progress to date (PDF)
