The Hudson Center for Health Equity and Quality (Hudson Center), founded in 2004, is a not-for-profit company with a dual mission – advocating for high-quality, cost-effective and humane health care for all people, and creating technological innovations to achieve these aims.

 

As the leader of a Medicaid health plan since the 1980s, I was constantly struck by the inequities of health care in our country. Low income people were kept off balance by a system that required them to fill out cumbersome forms, supply dozens of documents, and – too often – wait for interminable lengths of time to simply “qualify” for the right to make an appointment with a physician.

 

But bureaucratic inefficiencies in health care don’t only impact low income people. All of us – whether we have private employer-based insurance or receive our health care through other government programs – have experienced the frustration, confusion and delays of a system characterized by bureaucracy, fragmentation, errors, and decision-making based on poor – or just plain wrong – information. These problems not only stand in the way of people getting the health care they need – they actually become social stressors that adversely impact people’s health.

 

The Hudson Center’s first product, FEEA, revolutionized Medicaid managed care in New York by transforming a decentralized paper-based, error prone system into a streamlined process for member enrollment and recertification. FEEA further allowed health plans to track and update member records and manage staff productivity, and it reduced costly bureaucracy at the state and local level. The economic savings to health plans and to government health and social services agencies were astronomical – rivalled only by improvement in the lives of people needing health services and those whose job it is to deliver those services.

 

Over the years, the Hudson Center has worked with our clients to create many other streamlining technology solutions for health care and related programs. With decades of cumulative experience, our staff members offer subject matter expertise, business analysis, and information technology know-how in health insurance and the regulatory system that drives this sector. In addition, the Hudson Center’s familiarity with the overlapping health and social services infrastructure has led us to expand our software development efforts into programs addressing social determinants of health for the chronically ill, as well as programs in the child welfare arena.

 

Beyond technology, the Hudson Center’s unique commitment to health equity and quality underlies our advocacy efforts. We believe that every human being has the right to humane health care. We believe that – regardless of who “pays” for health insurance, for tests and screening, for a hospital stay, or for the social programs that integrate with the health care system – it is our duty to both maximize the benefit from finite resources and to ensure that all people receive the services they need and deserve.

 

Georganne Chapin
February 2019