Andrew Pecora I was asked to take part in a think tank on the rising cost of cancer care nearly a decade ago. It was, as expected, a blue-ribbon panel with some of the leading minds in medicine, business and public health policy present. We discussed, among other things, the most efficient way to bring … Continue reading
Category Archives: Quality Improvement
When the Health Plan World Changes, So Too Must the Delivery World
Dave Chase Proposals to combat surprise medical bills[1]. An executive order calling for greater transparency[2]. Debate about what “Medicare For All” could mean for both employees and employers[3]. People have grunted and groaned about health care costs for years, but the public appears to have finally reached their breaking point. Individuals aren’t afraid to speak … Continue reading
PaTH to Partnership in Stakeholder-Engaged Research: A Framework for Stakeholder Engagement in the PaTH to Health Diabetes Study
Jennifer M. Poger, Hsin-Chieh Yeh, Cindy L. Bryce, Jennifer K. Carroll, Lan Kong, Erica B. Francis, and Jennifer L. Kraschnewski Though engaging the community in research is not a novel concept, specific guidelines and support for meaningful engagement of nontraditional partners throughout the research process has recently garnered increased attention. Over the last decade, … Continue reading
A Musculoskeletal Integrated Practice Unit Improves Access and Outcomes in an Underserved Patient Population
Tiffany Liu and Karl Koenig In today’s health care system, patients must struggle through a dizzying array of obstacles to receive their care, with little opportunity or support to become effective advocates in their own care. As a result, patients see multiple specialists before an effective treatment plan is implemented and often undergo duplicative and … Continue reading
Beyond Models: The Compassionate Intersection of Clinical Medicine, Sociobehavioral Health Determinants, and Delivery System Transformation
Abhishek Dalal and Uyen Phan In the September 2018 issue of Healthcare: The Journal of Delivery Science and Innovation, meet Amy Boutwell, MD, MPP and read this blog post for an enhanced understanding of the significance of Dr. Boutwell’s thought leadership and the field of delivery science in a manner aligned with social medicine’s … Continue reading
Helping the most vulnerable: using patient navigators to strengthen health systems in Guatemala
Katia Cnop, Jessica Hawkins, Anita Chary, David Flood, Kirsten Austad, Boris Martinez, Waleska Lopez, Peter Rohloff As Rosita walks through the halls towards her first radiology appointment, she cannot read a single sign. Nurses speak in Spanish nearby, but she cannot understand what they are saying. She passes women who look like her, dressed in … Continue reading
Implementation of a multidisciplinary, team-based model to treat chronic hepatitis C in the primary care setting: Lessons Learned
Randi Sokol, Jessica Early, Amanda Barner, Sarah Gottfried, Richard Gumpert, Lorky Libaridian, Virginia Morrison, Alexandra Santamaria, and Linda Shipton While the opioid overdose epidemic has become palpable across our country, another associated problem is rising to crisis levels: over the past five years, there has been a nearly 300% increase in the number of new … Continue reading
Linking Professionalism to the Implementation of Choosing Wisely
By Daniel Wolfson, MHSA and Anthony Suchman, MD In the paper, Choosing Wisely®: A Case Study of Constructive Engagement in Health Policy, we describe how a constructive engagement approach to the Choosing Wisely campaign helped build strong partnerships with more than 70 specialty societies, Consumer Reports, and a bevy of consumer groups and other stakeholders … Continue reading
Understanding Management in Healthcare
By K. John McConnell, PhD In the search for tools to build a high performing health system, many observers have pointed to the potential role for modern management practices, including the approaches of Lean management developed at Toyota and famously adopted by hospitals like Virginia Mason in Seattle. Atul Gawande has suggested that management tools … Continue reading
Cost Conscious Medical Care
By Jeff DellaVolpe As we enter the era of the Affordable Care Act roll out, despite the uncertainty, one truth remains: all of us as healthcare professionals are going to have to do more with less. Continue reading