This month, NY Medicaid director Jason Helgerson announced that school readiness should be a quality indicator for Medicaid funded pediatric practices. Helgerson avowed, "no longer will we limit ourselves in our ambitions to improving the health and well-being of the populations in the Medicaid program. But that we actually begin to identify other metrics, societal metrics that are important and begin to address those metrics."
Dan Goldberg of Politico writes:
The Cuomo administration is... creating a pilot program in Albany that aims to increase the percentage of children who are developmentally ready when they enter kindergarten, a useful predictor for third grade literacy, which in turn is a predictor for high school graduation, incarceration, and employment.
"It's probably one of the most important measures that a society could identify," Helgerson said, "Yet, there is no one responsible for that particular measure."
This exciting development speaks directly to BT3's mission as we look at different models that will help pediatricians in our region refer patients to appropriate resources and work to support and expand building block services.
Source: http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/07/helgerson-l...