Working Together to Build a Healthier Community

Organization Information:

Organization Name:
Genesee Health Plan
City & State:
Flint, 
Michigan
Organization's Mission Statement

The mission of GHP is to improve the access to the health care system for low income and indigent Genesee County residents by providing them a medical “home” and providing coverage for health care services through a managed health care system.

Submission Information

Impact Essay

Genesee County once flourished due to the seemingly endless success of the automotive industry. Recent economic hardships and the struggling automotive industry have driven unemployment rates in the county to record levels. In the wake of this, Genesee Health Plan (GHP) has been striving to offer affordable, high quality and well-managed basic health care to residents who find they no longer have health coverage due to job loss or the high cost of premiums. Through a combination of public and private funding, collaborative partnerships, and local business, government and citizen support, Genesee Health Plan is effectively and successfully meeting this on-going community need. Genesee County is among the first counties in the nation to successfully offer a majority (72%) of uninsured residents such services. GHP is becoming a model for states and counties across the country.

In 2006, Genesee Health Plan appealed to the residents of Genesee County for assistance by way of a 1 mill property tax increase to help support the services offered. The campaign was successful and, as a result, more than 25,000 residents of Genesee County are able to be covered by the Genesee Health Plan (“Plan B”), relieving them of the stress of rising medical costs and access to care, and obtaining for them a medical home.

In March of 2009, the State of Michigan opened up enrollment in the Adult Medical Program, or “Plan A”. This program expanded the services available to certain clientele based on income. It has been the responsibility of Genesee Health Plan to reach out to members of the community who may qualify and assist them in enrolling before the State closes enrollment on May 31, 2009.

Genesee Health Plan relies heavily on Microsoft products to keep our organization running. Microsoft Office is an invaluable tool when it comes to reaching out to clients and providing them services.

Microsoft Outlook is used to facilitate schedules of the mental health staff so that they are able to meet with and provide services with as many Genesee County residents as possible and connect them with specialized therapists to meet the mental health needs those clients have.

Microsoft Word is used to generate a large scale mail merge every month to inform clients that their plan is expiring so that he or she may return to our enrollment sites and avoid any lapse in services.

Internally, Genesee Health Plan uses Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Publisher extensively. Excel is used to track expenses and organize the flow of money which in turn frees up time to dedicate to client services. Enrollment data is also collected on Excel spreadsheets. Publisher is utilized in the design of flyers and brochures used to reach out to the community and to health care providers informing them of upcoming events and programs.

Microsoft PowerPoint has been a great asset in the acquisition of funding from private foundations and contributors by way of excellently designed presentations. These presentations are also utilized in sharing GHP’s success with legislatures in Genesee County and the state of Michigan and organizations in other counties and states across America.

Of all the ways Microsoft has assisted Genesee Health Plan, it is the ongoing enrollment of member to Plan A that will have the greatest impact on the community. Services offered by Genesee Health Plan B make it possible for members to visit his or her doctor and receive many prescriptions for a minimal $3 as well as outpatient surgical services for a mere $8. Plan A offers these same services for a significantly reduced personal cost to member and also includes Emergency Room, ambulance and outpatient services. Because of these enhanced services to Genesee Counties most in need population, it is very important that as many people as possible are made aware of this program. To that end, Genesee Health Plan has used Microsoft Word to reach out to over 11,000 community members by mail as well as utilizing Publisher to create flyers and posters in order to inform people of community outreach events such as “COVER THE UNISURED WEEK”. A copy of the brochure that was created is available for viewing.

GHP has been using the donated Microsoft Office products through the Tech Soup Program for over a year now. Prior to this, GHP had to use limited resources to purchase software. GHP has saved at least two thousands of dollars this year alone on software costs. With these savings, GHP was able to support at least three of our members, as it costs GHP approximately $600 annually to provide health care services to one member.

Microsoft’s impact on Genesee Health Plan is not limited to the here and now. GHP is planning on ordering and using donated products from Tech Soup to implement a network infrastructure with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 at the core. In addition, all work stations will be updated to fully network-compatible Windows operating systems. These utilizations of Microsoft products will ensure security and stability of the data used by Genesee Health Plan, as well as facilitate document sharing, as we continue to grow and serve the community.

In these uncertain economic times, how to pay for quality medical care should not be a concern of Americans. Thanks to the efforts of Genesee Health Plan, the organizations who contribute to us, and the help of Microsoft, the citizens of Genesee County can have one less thing to worry about.

Submission Category
Optimize Mission Delivery
Project Image
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