A society’s investment decisions reveal much about its priorities. On Oct. 8, the Governor signed the 2010-11 budget for California. As a Foundation that uses data to elevate the priority of children’s health in California, we should note that the new budget illustrates the value our society places on programs that serve children. The Governor made nearly $1 billion in line-item cuts, including key child care, special education, and welfare programs. On the other hand, the 2010-11 budget also increases spending on K-12 education, community colleges, and UC education over last year. The California Budget Project provides an analysis of the key provisions in the budget agreement.

Key provisions:

• A $256 million reduction that ends CalWORKS Stage 3 child care, effective Nov. 1
• Child Welfare Services program funding cut by $80 million
• $43.8 billion in K-12 education, a slight increase over the last fiscal year
• $133 million cut from mental health services for special education students

For the full analysis, visit http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2010/100618_Budget_Comparision.pdf or see a recent article about the 2010-11 budget agreement at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/09/MNBR1FQDB7.DTL.

Posted by Jordan Handcox

A recent study from Stanford University points out a troubling trend: Factors other than medical need appear to be influencing whether California children with chronic conditions are treated in hospitals with special expertise in caring for children.

On the positive side, the study provides evidence that the majority of chronically ill children who require hospitalization are admitted to these specialty care centers.  More disturbing is the fact that the data suggest that factors other than medical need play a major role in influencing where children are hospitalized. Low-income children with public insurance generally are cared for in a children’s specialty care hospital. Surprisingly, though, children who are privately insured are significantly less likely to be treated at these pediatric centers of excellence.

In addition, other non-medical factors such as age, ethnicity, income level and living close to a specialty care hospital also influence where a child is treated, the study reports.

These findings are worrisome because a range of studies suggest that outcomes improve when children with serious or rare conditions have access to physicians and hospitals with special expertise.

The Stanford study analyzed pediatric hospitalizations for children ages 0 to 18 years at the time of admission in California between 1999 and 2007, using data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD).

The authors recommend greater scrutiny of clinical practices and child health policies that shape patterns of hospitalization of children with serious chronic disease. Through our work regarding children with special health care needs, our Foundation is advocating for a system in which all children are able to receive the highest-quality health care when and where they need it.

Posted by David Alexander, MD

Last week, San Francisco was home to the Fall 2010 Health 2.0 Conference, which showcases cutting-edge technologies in health care.

Headlining this fall’s event were a session and luncheon honoring the winners of the federal Health and Human Services Department’s Health 2.0 Developer Challenge. The project challenged organizations nationwide to develop applications to support the Community Health Data Initiative (CHDI). The CHDI is an HHS program aimed at helping Americans understand health issues locally, and take action to improve health in their communities.

The winners are shining examples of the power of data and how, if data are made accessible, they can change lives.

The challenge winners included:

• County Health Rankings, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin, that ranks health indicators for all counties in all states. Developers were challenged with creating apps or widgets that would make that information easily accessible on the technological platforms (iPads, smart phones, etc) that people already use to make informed decisions.
  The winning app was developed by Acys Healthcare and displays health rankings based on the GPS location of the user, and the county they are in.

• Catch and Hope Labs challenged developers to develop an app that encourages users to get up and moving, and then tracks that movement. Winner Happy Feet from Stanford University proposed an app that allows users to track activities and earn achievements, as well as be social via Facebook to see how friends using the app are doing.

In addition to these ingenious ideas, there were four other winners.

Posted by Felicity Simmons