Track 1-3a
Community

Meeting Immigrant Health Care Needs in a Managed Care Environment

The presenter will describe how Refugee Services Alliance (RSA), a community-based organization, launched health care programs that established a working relationship with government entities, health care providers, training organizations, HMOs and immigrant communities to meet their programs’ objectives. RSA houses three health care programs. The Multilingual Managed Care Project educates members of the Latino, Vietnamese and Chinese communities on managed care in their respective languages and provides training on cultural and linguistic competence to health care providers. The Cultural Mediator Project, based on the Harborview Medical Center’s model in Seattle, links members of the Bosnian, Kurdish, Iraqi, Somali and Vietnamese refugee communities to health care and moves them toward self-sufficiency in accessing health care services. The Health Care Interpreter Program trains health care interpreters and serves as an interpreter agency for health care and social service settings.
  The presentation will concentrate specifically on how alliances were created, an honest account of lessons learned, and the continuing challenges of successful collaborations. This includes the specific example of how RSA played a key role in ensuring the presence of interpreters for Medicaid health plan members in greater Houston. The presenter will provide hand-outs outlining a step-by-step approach of consortium-building as well as descriptions and outcomes of their current programs.

Moira Delgado
Consultant, Multilingual Managed Care Project
Refugee Services Alliance
2 E. Gaslight Place
The Woodlands, TX 77382
Phone: (281) 252-9756
Fax: (281) 252-9756

Moira Delgado, currently a consultant for Refugee Services Alliance, designed the curriculum and materials on managed care for the Hispanic, Vietnamese and Chinese communities in greater Houston. Her activities during this project include advocacy for linguistic access to health care under Medicaid Managed Care. Ms. Delgado has also worked closely with Multicultural Health Care Solutions, an organization that provides training and consultation on cultural issues in health care.  NEXT >

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