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We announced today our Center for Health Literacy (the Center) has received five ClearMark Awards of Distinction from the Center for Plain Language. In this record-breaking year, the Maximus projects being recognized include the Georgia Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Provider Handbook; Healthy Michigan Plan (HMP) Work Requirements Exemption Form; HMP Work Requirements Letters; and New York State of Health (NYSOH) Mobile Upload App for both English and Spanish languages respectively.

“It is an honor to be recognized four years in a row for our dedication to providing beneficiaries with clear and actionable program communication. These awards are well-deserved by our Center’s team of plain language experts who are passionate about creating a culture of clarity,” said Ilene Baylinson, General Manager, U.S. Health and Human Services. “We are thrilled to share this recognition with our clients in Georgia, Michigan, and New York, which truly reflects our joint commitment to enhancing the customer experience and ensuring citizens can access and understand the programs and services available to them.”

The Georgia CAPS Provider Handbook was published in partnership with Georgia Healthy Families Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. The Center enhanced the content and design of the existing handbook to create a more user-friendly and understandable provider resource to explain the program’s policies and procedures to CAPS childcare providers. Georgia made the CAPS Handbook available online to approximately 2,500 childcare providers, creating a more educated provider pool.

On behalf of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Center implemented changes to the HMP Work Requirements Exemption Form to ensure the greatest number of eligible Michigan residents secured an exemption from the state work requirements and could keep vital health coverage in Michigan’s Medicaid program. In tandem, the Center undertook the task to develop a suite of letters to announce the new program policy, explain it clearly, and engage beneficiaries to maintain HMP healthcare coverage.

The Maximus Center for Health Literacy not only received recognition for their work on publications. The Center also received two separate Awards of Distinction for its work in the digital arena with the NYSOH Mobile Upload App – both the English and Spanish versions. By providing the user a step-by-step process, the mobile app reduced the time required to receive and process documents, to ensure beneficiaries received coverage as quickly as possible and could access their insurance benefits sooner. The Center’s expertise helped to enhance and modernize the customer experience while enhancing privacy and security. In its first 90 days after launching, the app was downloaded by more than 30,000 users to successfully submit nearly 100,000 pages, surpassing documents submitted via fax and second only to submissions via U.S. mail.

Maximus holds a total of 12 ClearMark Awards of Distinction since 2017. Additional ClearMark category awards and Grand ClearMark winners will be announced at the Access for All virtual conference October 13-15, 2020. For details visit accessforallconference.com.

The Center for Plain Language is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping government agencies and businesses create communications that are clear and easy to understand. For more information, visit centerforplainlanguage.org
 

View the press release