Disparities

Just in case you missed it: here's a recap of our #Disparities #EquityChat with @MinorityHealth. Enjoy! http://t.co/GZzZPP7lN5
— Finding Answers (@FndgAnswers) July 8, 2013

Support Providers and Practices

Physician Support Entities (PSE)  continue to be a resource for clinicians.   See the white paper from Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS).  Click here  to read the paper.

Feel free to follow @MED+WorksBR on Twitter.

Triple Aim of Quality Improvement

Dr. Eugene Nelson (2012) has done it.  He has updated my foundational paradigm about quality by collapsing the four parts of the Quality Compass into the Triple Aim-  outcomes, experience and costs.
 

Based on years of work, we finally can define what we mean by healthcare quality-  better care, better health, lower costs.  We can measure each element and we can monitor quality in real-time without bankrupting our organizations.  Its easy...  Until we try to implement it.  When we begin to manage these values into existence and weave them into the DNA of every member of the organization, then it gets challenging.

For example, we know that indiscriminate use of antibiotics is bad, but if your patient's caregiver insists...   We know that frequent trips to the ED are expensive, but try enforcing the out-of-pocket penalty.  We know that EHRs are good for monitoring health outcomes, but who is going to convert all of the old paper records?  Call MED+Works!  We will support your office as you move forward toward improved quality and help you avoid the major setbacks associated with poor implementation.

Contact us 2 | Improve.

  

Do Low-Income Patients Need Behavior Modification?

At the Diabetes Summit in Baton Rouge, physicians admitted that 1)  the metabolic syndrome requires lifestyle changes in order to be managed and 2) motivating lifestyle change can not be done by MDs, one on one with their patients during a regular office visit.

This is progress.  In fact, the same admission be made for most chronic conditions from migraines to CHF.  Physicians (as much as they might like to) have neither the time nor the incentives to coach patients in healing themselves.   As is often said, ...in developed countries, 'We have traded mortality for morbidity.'  Acute conditions have given way to chronic conditions.  Surgery is being eclipsed by medicines and now perhaps by cognitive behavioral therapy.  We begin to let our diet and exercise be our medicine. But where does the physician fit in to this mega-trend?

Of course one is at the table or on the menu.  So, to be at the head of the table is the physician's best strategy.  Leading a team of professions in a Patient-Centered Medical Home will require a reconfiguration of our concept of medical practice.

Let MED+Works help you grow into a position of leadership in this practice of the future.