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Featured FAN: Julie Clements

March 15, 2019
Carl Graziano

A Conversation with UC Health’s Julie Clements

Each quarter, we feature a Federal Action Network (FAN) member leading the charge on Capitol Hill to protect essential hospitals. This quarter, we spoke with Julie Clements, JD, MPP, director of health and clinical affairs in the Office of Federal Governmental Relations for the University of California system. Clements oversees government relations for UC Health’s hospitals, medical schools, and health science schools.

What strategies have you used to get to know new members of Congress?

To reach new members of Congress, I depend on the teamwork of health government relations (GR) directors employed at each of UC Health’s five medical center campuses and at UC Riverside’s School of Medicine. The California delegation comprises as much as one-eighth of the U.S. House membership. I cannot possibly contact all members and their staff about public policies of interest to UC Health in a timely manner without having a strong working relationship with each academic medical center campus’ health GR director. I rely on these advocates to nurture individual relationships with the members of Congress whose constituents study, research, practice medicine, and/or receive treatment at UC Health clinics and hospitals.

Likewise, how do you share with members of Congress stories about UC hospitals and the important community role they serve?

I share the unique role of UC Health with members of Congress and their staffs by making personal visits to numerous congressional members’ offices. I often bring along a clinician or biomedical researcher, who can explain how their role enhances UC Health’s capacity to fulfill its tripartite mission of caring for patients, innovating medical cures, and training the next generation of clinicians. I enjoy communicating the unique advances UC Health is making to medicine while underscoring the continued role we fulfill as a trusted safety-net provider.

How do you introduce new members of Congress to the key issues essential hospitals face?

I introduce new members of Congress and their staffs to the story of UC Health and our role as anchor to numerous California communities, both urban and rural, through one-pagers and other advocacy materials. I use these materials to underscore the importance of UC Health’s academic medical centers and health science training programs to their communities and highlight their unique capabilities and needs. I recently developed one-pagers targeted at lay people with no health policy experience. These emphasize the unique value of academic medicine and communicate UC Health’s dual roles as safety-net provider and educator.

You’ve held productive meetings with candidates during campaign season. How do you translate those meetings into action once candidates are elected?

Most of the health GR directors at UC Health’s individual medical centers introduced themselves early on to candidates vying for Congress. They described the vital role their UC Health medical center plays in ensuring the delivery of high-quality, advanced patient care to numerous patient populations. I have tried to support that work by checking in regularly with each director and sharing background on the federal legislative and, specifically, the regulatory policies of most concern to UC Health. With several of these candidates soon ascending to Congress, I will follow up with their offices to introduce them to the UC Health system, our tripartite mission, and the immense safety-net role we play across California and the western United States.

What is the most important thing for government relations professionals to keep in mind during the first session of a new Congress?

Health advocates should identify a few issues that are key to their institutions’ capacity to continue fulfilling their missions. There are myriad public policy issues of importance to essential hospitals, and it can be tempting to try to pursue everything. To maximize reach and be proactive in engaging members, congressional committees, and congressional leadership, we must focus on the need for timely, thoughtful action on a select few policy issues.

Second, we need to demonstrate mastery of the federal statutes and regulations underlying those key issues. For example, I demonstrate how the 340B Drug Pricing Program discount works through a flowchart that illustrates each condition that must be met to purchase an outpatient prescription, dispensed by a 340B-eligible hospital, at the 340B discount. I have shared this flowchart with policymakers to highlight the accountability required of 340B-eligible hospitals seeking to purchase outpatient drugs on the 340B formulary at a discounted price.

Finally, it’s critical to integrate patient experience into any advocacy done by health care providers. With each visit to a policymaker, I strive to cite how a specific policy will benefit or adversely affect our patients. The patient story must lead our advocacy pitches for each policy solution.

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