Patient-Centered Care

Patients with Depression Don't Walk Through the Clinic Door

Depression can be debilitating. Major depression causes pain, disability, or even death and may also lead to workplace absenteeism. According to the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), primary care doctors detect depression in patients only about 30 to 50 percent of the time. Typically, of the patients who do receive a diagnosis of depression, between 20 and 40 percent show improvement within one year. Primary care physicians have lacked the know-how, time, and other resources to help patients with depression get the treatment they need.

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Consumer Voices Matter

In February 2014, the Washington Health Alliance released the results of its second patient experience survey, which measures patients’ experiences with local primary care providers. Known as Your Voice Matters, this initiative offers important insights to understanding the quality of care in the region. The Alliance is the only organization in Washington State to have systematically asked patients about their primary care experience and made comparable results publicly available.

Patient experience refers to what happens to...

Keeping Mental Health Readmissions RARE

It’s well known that the RARE (Reducing Avoidable Readmissions Effectively) Campaign has been highly successful in Minnesota. The most recent data from the third quarter 2013 show that participants have helped prevent 7,030 avoidable readmissions since 2011 and allowed patients in Minnesota to spend 28,120 nights of sleep in their own beds instead of in the hospital.

The RARE Campaign was launched in 2011 by the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), and Stratis Health and...

Small Providers, Better Diabetes Care

The citizens of Memphis, TN, suffer from Type II diabetes rates above the national average. The average rate of diabetes prevalence in the United States is 8.3 percent, and in Shelby County the average rate is 12 percent, according to the County Health Rankings. Diabetes and pre-diabetes contribute to the majority of premature deaths in Tennessee, according to a recent study from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

And at the front lines of care, primary care physicians in Memphis tackle treating patients with diabetes...

A Holistic Approach to Improving Health Care

Although health care providers have long recognized that many of their patients have both behavioral and physical health needs, there has been a complete disconnect in how this comprehensive care is provided and paid for. Data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication indicated that 34 million American adults, or 17 percent of the adult population, had comorbid mental and medical conditions within a 12-month period. While evidence-based treatments and programs exist for improving care for this population, they are not routinely used. Now, with health reform,...

Pulling Back the Curtain on Primary Care

Patients without the skills to manage their health care incur costs up to 21 percent higher than those of patients who are highly engaged in their care, according to recent research published in Health Affairs. Patient engagement begins with giving patients the tools they need; at its most advanced, it also can mean that patients work directly with providers to provide feedback and strive to improve quality.

Patient Partners is an advanced form of consumer engagement where patients volunteer to join their ambulatory care...

Setting the Standard for Healthy Communities in Cincinnati

Looking for a healthy Midwestern community to call your new home? The search is over! According to the Top 100 Best Places to Live by Livability.com, Cincinnati ranked #2 in the nation in the health care category because of its accessible and affordable care. According to Livability.com, “the cities that performed best on this list encourage healthy living by their very structure, as well as the presence of great, affordable care options.” The city’s health care score was 30 points higher than the average health care score of all 100 cities in the ranking. The Cincinnati...

PBS Affiliate Features SCPA Program

The South Central Pennsylvania alliance and its Patient Partners program were featured on a HEALTHSMART episode on the Chronically Ill. HEALTHSMART is produced by WITF, the central Pennsylvania PBS affiliate.

It is estimated 133 million Americans currently suffer from one chronic disease. Approximately half have multiple chronic diseases. Chronic diseases – long term conditions which can be controlled but not cured – account for 7 of 10 deaths in America. They are considered the leading health concern of our nation encompassing...

Maine Shifts Health Focus To Community

Across Maine, patient-centered medical homes and their community care teams are improving quality and patient outcomes while reducing overall health care costs. Funded in part by RWJF’s Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative, Maine’s Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot has a broad reach—not only coordinating patients’ care and serving as a reliable resource, but also linking patients to services like food banks and mental health case workers. Results from the medical home initiative include a 40 percent reduction in readmissions at one participating...

On the Redwood Coast

California’s Humboldt County faces unique public health challenges, including a shifting local economy and a drug-related death rate that’s 300 percent higher than state averages. J. Duncan Moore, Jr., a prominent health policy writer and co-founder of the Association for Health Care Journalists, examines how Humboldt’s Aligning Forces program put patients at center stage of community-wide efforts to improve the quality of local health care system. The article is part of Journalists on Quality, a series of investigative profiles on how Aligning Forces has affected...