The Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Network- Serving Kentuckiana.
Message From the President
Dear Members & Friends-
In lieu of this month’s meeting we will have our annual dinner at Kingfish River Road in Louisville on June 21 at 6:30. Meals will be paid for by the Chapter for all of those who are current dues-paying members. Hope to see you there!
July’s meeting will be held at Frazier Rehab, 4th floor dining room. Social hour: 6:30; speaker at 7:00 p.m. Refreshments provided.
- David Allgood
The following IS from SCI Life, October 2002
THE AXIS MODEL: A Disability-FRIENDLY APPROACH TO MANAGED HEALTH CARE By John Tschida and Chris Duff
No matter where you live, the health care system in the United States is complex and difficult to navigate. This dysfunction is experienced by most everyone, though it is often magnified for people with physical disabilities. Most people with physical disabilities are generally able to find good, competent providers. The challenge lies in being able to access them when needed, to obtain approval for the services or medical equipment in a timely manner, and to make sure the lines of communication among providers remain open so the overall needs of the consumer are met. In Minnesota, a program has been designed to meet the unique needs of people with physical disabilities. While many managed care organizations have ‘care coordinators’ or ‘case managers’ charged with linking consumers with the services they need, what they often lack is expertise in disability issues. AXIS Health care is an organization specializing in disability.
It was founded by two local leaders in the Rehabilitation industry – Courage Center and Sister Kenny Institute. AXIS doesn’t provide health care services. It empowers people with disabilities to make choices about their health care services and helps cut through red tape to coordinate the unique needs of each consumer with a disability.
Throughout the United States, there are dozens of Medicaid managed care programs that have enrolled people with disabilities. The problem is that while these programs may include people with disabilities, most are not designed for and with people with disabilities. AXIS, with grant support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, worked with consumers in a pilot project for over two years to build the program model. The goal was to build a quality organization people wanted to join, not a mandatory managed care plan people had to join. The starting point – and the best health care consultant – was the customer. AXIS provided health coordination services on a voluntary basis for over 40 individuals. The participants voiced their expectations, designed their own care plans, and identified their preferred health care providers. More importantly, they expressed their frustration with existing delivery system and recommended changes and opportunities for improvement and efficiency. While AXIS can’t fix the entire health care system, it can change the way individuals interact with it, and it can help put the fragments together on behalf of its customers. The goal is to have doctors view their patients not as intermittent problems or symptoms caused by their disabilities or chronic conditions but as whole people needing a rang of health care services, from flu shots to throat cultures. Ultimately, AXIS is about improved community integration, believing that better health care outcomes will allow people to be more active, engaged members of their communities.
