VIable

NDHI
NAT IONAL DIALOGUE FOR
Healthcare Innovation
Faith-Based Toolkit
Organization Overview
• BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) is a
not-for-profit health insurance organization
• BCBST provides benefits to about 12,000 companies
and serves 3.3 million people
• BCBST offers BlueCare Tennessee, a managed
Medicaid program that serves 602,000 members
Background:
The population of BlueCare Tennessee exhibits many
characteristics that relate to health disparities: low
income, racial minorities, low education levels, high
violent crime rate, and under-resourced neighborhoods.
Many BlueCare members live in neighborhoods of
concentrated poverty, with 40% or more people living
in poverty within a given area. The National Healthcare
Quality and Disparities Report identified poverty as the
most important factor contributing to health disparities.
Faith-based initiatives assist in reaching populations
that would otherwise be underserved, bridging clinical
care delivery systems with the natural care system of
family, friends, and the community. Based on a recommendation
from its Disparities Advisory Panel, BlueCare
Tennessee launched the Faith-Based Toolkit (FBTK)
community-based outreach program in November 2013.
Program Details
The Faith-Based Toolkit (FBTK) is a resource for faithbased
organizations to use in communicating important
health information to community members in an easily-used,
readily accessible format. The toolkit aims to
impact community change rather than specific cases
of disease or intervention, and includes education on
prevention, acute and chronic conditions, and pharmacy.
Key objectives of the program:
• Influence members to seek access to
needed services
• Increase health management engagement among
BlueCare Tennessee members
• Improve health literacy
Partners in this effort include:
• BlueCare Tennessee
• BlueCare Disparities Advisory Panel (comprised of
representatives from several community organizations
across the state including the TN Department
of Health, The Kidney Foundation, and several
universities)
• Faith-based organizations across the state
The program has initially focused on locations with:
• High concentration of BlueCare Tennessee and
TennCareSelect members
• High percentage of members receiving no
healthcare services
• Create a centralized source for health education
and additional resources
• Educate communities and their leaders about health
promotion and disease management
An Initiative of the
11 | Faith-Based Toolkit