Aligning Forces Alliances in Maine, Minnesota, and Oregon were recently featured in Health Affairs for their efforts in developing safety-net accountable care organizations (ACO). ACO-focused initiatives have early signs of success in delivering cost-effective, patient-centered care while advancing patient engagement, thus achieving Medicaid’s Triple Aim. Safety-net ACOs are collaborative entities of...
The blizzard of ’78 was tumultuous in Boston, and it also represented a tumultuous time in health for the Roxbury community in Boston. There was little access to healthy fruits and vegetables, and people of color were being diagnosed with Type II diabetes in shocking numbers. Al Whitaker contrasts the season of chaos in Roxbury with his own personal struggle with diabetes. The Greater Boston Alliance hosted a month-long campaign to inform the Roxbury community about diabetes and prevention. Now, Whitaker says this time with Aligning Forces represents a “season of health,...
The very suggestion that a patient may be treated differently based on skin color or origin is, frankly, as insulting as it is absurd. Yet we can’t deny our findings. Disparities do exist. Talking to providers about disparities and equity is not easy. In contrast, Paula Jacobs’ husband, who is white, was diagnosed with a critical illness 10 years ago, yet they have been blessed to welcome five grandchildren. In contrast, Jacobs’ friend, who was black, passed away one day after mowing the grass. He missed his children’s graduations and other important life milestones...
Moe Rustom of Detroit has been a nurse for more than 23 years and understands the challenges of limited English proficiency in patients as a provider. He believes that using interpreters takes a clever health care provider. The opportunity may not always be apparent, but using interpreters can have a big payoff in terms of patient safety and experience. He describes one case in which a patient nodded his head when a nurse asked if he understood the directions for taking one pill a day for the next seven days—and that he patient went home, took all seven pills at once, and came back...
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and the leading cause of cancer deaths among nonsmokers, according to the CDC. If everyone age 50 years and older had a regular screening test, at least 60 percent of the deaths from this cancer could be avoided. And early detection, the key to treating colorectal cancer, is inexpensive. Two communities in the Robert Wood Johnson’s Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative have made tackling this issue a priority.
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