Using Lean Impact to increase equitable contraceptive access and coverage in Illinois

Illinois Contraceptive Access Now (ICAN!) is a statewide initiative to advance contraceptive equity by de-siloing, de-stigmatizing, and normalizing birth control as basic health care.

“I found the coaching calls to be incredibly helpful in maintaining project momentum, accountability, and surfacing key insights from each experiment” – Meg Lassar, Strategy & Fundraising Advisor.

Societal problem

In Illinois (USA), nearly 500,000 people lack coverage for contraceptive care. Intersecting barriers prevent people from exercising their right to reproductive autonomy and achieving reproductive well-being. These barriers are much greater for young, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, rural, and low-income communities. 

Every person should be able to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to be pregnant and parent.

Mission

Illinois Contraceptive Access Now (ICAN!) is a statewide initiative to advance contraceptive equity by de-siloing, de-stigmatizing, and normalizing birth control as basic health care.

ICAN! is building a network of trusted healthcare providers in partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers to ensure equitable contraceptive access across Illinois. ICAN! also provides birth control education and outreach through its digital platform, ican4all.org, and pursues policies that expand coverage and payment for high-quality contraceptive care. 

The ICAN! team partnered with Spring Impact to de-risk their strategy for scaling patient-centred contraceptive care using Lean Impact methods.

One of the things we've learned the importance of is the willingness to iterate constantly. We aren't fixed on one way of working; our commitment to our mission remains the same, but how we get there can change

Jordan Hatcher Director of Programmes, ICAN!

Action

Spring Impact supported the ICAN! team to build a discipline of continuous testing and learning while exploring key assumptions in the partnership scale strategy. 

“One of the things we’ve learned the importance of is the willingness to iterate constantly. We aren’t fixed on one way of working; our commitment to our mission remains the same, but how we get there can change”, emphasized Jordan Hatcher, Director of Programs.

To achieve their mission, ICAN! collects patient quality and access data across the Federally Qualified Health Centers network. ICAN! uses data to inform quality improvement efforts in health centres, refine education and outreach to communities, and demonstrate impact to serve as a replicable model in other geographies.

Spring Impact trained ICAN! in Lean Impact methods and coached the team to run multiple lean experiments that improved their patient experience data collection approach with Federally Qualified Health Centers at scale. 

“I found the coaching calls to be incredibly helpful in maintaining project momentum, accountability, and surfacing key insights from each experiment”, Meg Lassar, Strategy & Fundraising Advisor.

It's something our team has embraced in all our ways of working. When we bring on new team members, we train them in the Lean Impact thought
process

Jordan Hatcher Director of Programmes, ICAN!

Impact

Since working with Spring Impact and implementing the Lean Impact methodology, ICAN! quickly uncovered new terms for data agreements, improved partnership agreements, and revised partner onboarding protocols to accelerate the impact of their network. In less than two years, ICAN! tripled the Federally Qualified Health Centers they partnered with and expanded to Central and Southern Illinois. 

ICAN! has also institutionalized Lean Impact methodology into their culture, staff model and day-to-day approach. 

“It’s something our team has embraced in all our ways of working. When we bring on new team members, we train them in the Lean Impact thought process”, mentioned Jordan Hatcher, Program Director.

Armed with patient data, ICAN! continues to make tremendous progress against its mission at scale, most recently serving as the lead architect of and advocate for the passage of a Medicaid State Plan Amendment that significantly expanded coverage for birth control and reproductive health services.

Watch video testimonial

Jordan Hatcher, Director of Programmes of ICAN!, shares her experience working with Spring Impact.

More about ICAN!

Illinois Contraceptive Access Now (ICAN!) is a statewide initiative to advance contraceptive equity by de-siloing, de-stigmatizing, and normalizing birth control as basic health care.

Interested in Lean Impact?

We developed our Lean practice with Ann Mei Chang, author of ‘Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good’ and Steve Nagai-Ma, one of our sector’s most experienced lean impact practitioners.
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