Administered by AcademyHealth with Support from Kaiser Permanente

The Program

•  Purpose. The program is designed to provide you with a range of opportunities to focus on pressing policy issues, while also improving the quality of the work you and your employers perform on a daily basis. The year-long program will provide you with time to experience and research the impact of specific health policy initiatives to deepen your understanding of the impact of federal legislation and regulations at the community level. You will travel on at least two site-visits throughout the year to observe promising healthcare practices in the field. You will also have the option of creating additional fact-finding trips to supplement your initial site-visits.

•  Site Visits. The work-study opportunity will offer three pre-planned site-visits in the spring, summer, and fall that candidates will apply to attend based on their topical interest (program offerings will be held around Congressional recesses to encourage travel). These three-day site-visit tours will allow participants to observe best practices from across the country related to prominent health topics. AcademyHealth will create an agenda for the three site-visits and seek advanced preliminary approval from relevant Congressional and Executive branch ethics committees to help ensure eligibility during the travel approval process.

The three site visits for the 2008 Health Policy in Action! Program focus on patient safety, emergency preparedness, and health information technology. Further descriptions follow below:

• Improving Patient Safety in the Hospital Setting: Are Patients Safer? Visit two hospitals to observe their quality control initiatives while also interacting with the quality officers, doctors, nurses, and line staff charged with ensuring safe and effective care for patients.
  
• Blank Slate: Rebuilding a Health System: Travel to the Delta Region to study the lessons learned by healthcare organizations that implemented effective policies, plans and procedures, and/or innovative and creative thinking strategies amidst duress to ensure the safety and medical integrity of their patients post-Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
  
• The Use of Electronic Health Records and Health Information Technology to Improve Quality and Efficiency: Connect with health information exchange (HIE) leaders from across the country who oversee the management and daily operations of HIE systems to discuss the feasibility, expense, implementation, and possible outcomes of enhanced communication and sharing of clinical information among providers, payors, and patients.

•  Mentors. Each candidate will receive two mentors; someone grounded in their academic discipline of interest and a practitioner currently involved in program implementation at the ground level. These relationships will give participants the opportunity to learn about the latest research from the field, while also benefiting from the experience of front-line workers involved in day-to-day management. Examples of possible mentors include: a university professor, a Chief of Information Technology for a hospital system, the dean of an academic center, a social worker, a Director of Community Health Care Initiatives for a corporation, a health services researcher, or a Vice President of Workforce Development for a health system. Participants will connect with each mentor at least twice during the year.

•  Eligibility. Any mid-to-senior-level health policy professional employed by the legislative or executive branches of the federal government full-time may apply.

•  Duration. As a participant, you will commit to participating in at least two of the three pre-determined site visits throughout the course of the year. Your study tour will also include opportunities to connect with your mentors from the research and policy settings and additional opportunities to interact with practitioners in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.

•  Salary and Travel Reimbursement. You will maintain your federal salary and benefits during the period of the program, with payment for travel, lodging, and per diem pre-arranged by your employer and AcademyHealth.

•  Technical Assistance. AcademyHealth will pair you with mentors in your particular field of interest to assist you in refining the scope of your year study. These advisors will be experts in the field most relevant to your area of interest. AcademyHealth staff will assist you in seeking approval from your employer, facilitating your travel arrangements and reimbursement, and fulfilling the programs expectations and requirements.

•  Expectations. Fellows are expected to conduct themselves according to the conflict-of-interest laws and standards of conduct applicable to both their employers and the organizations they visit. Fellows must return to their federal positions upon completion of their assignment, and are responsible for travel, lodging, and per diem expenses if they do not serve the length of the assignment or complete their assignment within one year.

•  Deliverables. At the conclusion of the program, you will be invited to report on your experience through Kaiser Permanente publications and/or AcademyHealth's quarterly member newsletter, AcademyHealth Reports. You will also be asked to serve on panels at AcademyHealth's meetings and conferences, including the Annual Research Meeting, National Health Policy Conference, and/or Health Policy Orientation. You're encouraged to share lessons learned with your colleagues through internal, staff publications or brown bag sessions at your place of employment.