Healthy Options, Healthy Families

The Partnership for Innovation at Work

Being pregnant is complicated. Joyful but complicated. The tests, the doctor's visits, the aches and pains. For families with little or no health coverage, these basics can be huge hurdles. That's why many forgo regular care during pregnancy and end up in urgent care when a crisis hits.

The doctors and nurses at Group Health's Riverfront Medical Center in Spokane, Washington knew this. They knew it was costly for the Cooperative and risky for the mother and baby.

It begged the question: Is there a way to improve the quality of care for these families and bring down the cost of care for Group Health?

Their idea: Assign a team nurse to provide care for patients in the clinic and in the community. Group Health's Riverfront Medical Center, the Foundation, the Research Institute, and the community came together to see what was possible.

Through the Healthy Options, Healthy Families program, we learned it was possible for a nurse to offer information and hope with one quick call. We saw a young mom come for her baby's check-up and come to realize she could go back to school. We discovered a practical way to deliver profound results for new families. That's innovation.

A tiny participant in the Healthy Options, Healthy Families program with his mom and his favorite Group Health nurse.