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Govt. Baker: Bill would expand mental health care services | Health

Gail F. Harder — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 20:55:27 +0000

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday unveiled a bill he says would help expand access to primary care and mental health services and help control rising health care and health care costs. prescription drugs.

The Republican detailed the legislation during a stop at a health care center in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.

Baker said the state has unfinished business when it comes to expanding access to health care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the bill aims to increase investment in behavioral health care services, control factors that drive up health care costs, and improve access to coordinated, high-quality care for people with multiple health problems.

“The pandemic has demonstrated that even though our healthcare system is doing a lot of things very well – and fortunately we have all seen it first hand every day – we still have a number of important problems and issues that we need to address. “, did he declare.

One of the key remaining challenges is to ensure that those who need behavioral health care services are treated equally with those who have physical health care needs.

The bill would require health care providers and payers to increase spending on primary care and behavioral health by 30% over three years, with the initial performance period ending in 2024.

“I don’t think I’ve found anyone in Massachusetts who thinks we have enough people playing in the behavioral health space to care for people trying to access services,” Baker said, adding that the The state “had issues with accessing these services before the pandemic.

Amy Rosenthal, executive director of the nonprofit Health Care For All, welcomed the bill, saying it could help increase access to medicines by reducing costs.

“We need to curb rising prescription drug prices so that individuals and families can afford their treatments and aren’t forced to choose between putting food on the table or paying for their medications,” Rosenthal said in a statement. writing.

The Massachusetts Senate in November unanimously approved its own bill that would ensure Massachusetts residents are eligible for annual mental health wellness exams at no cost — similar to annual physical exams.

The sweeping bill, which passed 39 to 0, would create an online portal to help ease the transition from emergency to long-term care and allocate $122 million to support nearly 2,000 professionals behavior. It would also enforce existing mental health parity laws, which aim to ensure that insurance coverage for mental health care is equal to insurance coverage for other medical conditions.

The bill was sent to the Massachusetts House.

The official session of the legislature ends on July 31.

Hospital staff shortages, health equity, pandemic response among issues tackled by Western Australian lawmakers

Gail F. Harder — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 13:00:00 +0000

Washington lawmakers addressed a wide range of health care issues during this year’s legislative session, from staffing shortages to barriers to long-term care, and made progress in addressing equity gaps persistent within hospitals and health systems.

But more work is needed to find solutions to some specific worker and patient safety issues, such as how to better support the state’s chronically understaffed hospitals and overworked employees.

Many mental and behavioral health advocates also came out of the 2022 session wishing more had been done to expand the roles of social workers, therapists and psychologists, although the state’s new supplementary budget, approved Thursday night allocates more than $100 million to help treat behavioral health. labor shortages.

And as the world enters its third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers have also earmarked more than $1 billion in unspent federal aid to help stabilize school districts and strengthen education industries. hotels and conventions, the arts sector and small businesses.

Millions will also be invested in cancer research, updating public health data systems, tackling the state’s opioid epidemic, creating more insurance coverage options disease and smoking prevention.

Here’s what Washingtonians should know about this year’s major health care bills and new policies to watch.

COVID Response

Democratic lawmakers this week announced a state budget deal that would use more than $1 billion in remaining federal coronavirus aid, including $345 million to stabilize school districts and $215 million for industries. hotels and conventions, the arts sector and small businesses.

The new supplemental budget also includes $125 million for the state’s current pandemic response, including vaccine distribution, diagnostic testing, disease surveillance and community outreach.

An additional $1.6 billion will be paid into a special disaster response account to help with the ongoing pandemic recovery for families, schools and businesses.

Meanwhile, a bill that would end the COVID state of emergency declared by Gov. Jay Inslee never made it out of committee, nor did a set of bills that would have restored jobs to those who have been fired or resigned due to COVID vaccine mandates.

Hospital/nursing staff

One of the most debated health-related bills this legislative session opened another conversation about state staffing shortages, but ultimately did not pass the Legislative Assembly. House Bill 1868 would have established new staffing standards, including a mandatory nurse-to-patient ratio, better enforcement of meal and rest breaks, and an end to mandatory overtime policies, among other rules.

The state’s three largest health care worker unions fought to keep the bill in hopes of improving retention and workplace safety, but leaders and hospital executives opposed it. the legislation, claiming it would have forced health systems to delay care, eliminate certain services or turn patients around. a way.

“By failing to meet safety staffing standards this session, a handful of lawmakers have allowed hospital leaders to continue to put profits ahead of patient care,” Washington State Nurses leaders wrote. Association, SEIU 1199NW and UFCW 21 in a joint statement this week. “But we are not giving up. We will continue to fight for safe staffing standards, whether in the Legislative Assembly, at the bargaining table or during the vote.

House Bill 2007, which plans to help nurse educators with their student loans, has been passed by the Legislative Assembly and will aim to encourage more people to pursue nursing education, said Representative Eileen Cody, Speaker of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee. in a statement last month.

“Currently, there are 6,000 fewer nurses in the state than we desperately need, but colleges that teach nursing cannot enroll enough new students to fill the gap due to lack of nurse educators available to teach them,” Cody, D-West Seattle, wrote. .

The bill establishes the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment Program as part of the Washington Health Corps, which also operates a separate program that provides loan repayment assistance to health care workers who agree to practice in an “area of shortage” – where medical professionals have been in short supply – for at least three years.

Health Equity

Washingtonians will soon see changes to the state’s charitable care law, which promises free or reduced-cost medical care to low-income patients. The Legislature this week passed House Bill 1616, which requires large hospital systems to provide more financial assistance and increases eligibility for rebates and full waivers of out-of-pocket hospital charges.

Starting July 1, about half of all Washingtonians will be eligible for free or reduced-cost care at hospitals that house about 80 percent of licensed beds.

Under current state charitable care law, individuals whose household income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for charitable care. Now, anyone below 300% of the federal poverty level will be eligible for medical financial assistance.

“Under current law, a single parent working two minimum-wage jobs at 50 hours a week was not eligible for financial assistance at hospitals in Washington — that’s not right and it had to change,” he said. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement this week.

Lawmakers have also taken steps to address insulin affordability issues by passing Senate Bill 5546, which reduces certain copayments for the hormone from $100 per month to $35 per month. Diabetes advocates said the legislation could do more to address the bigger reasons for high insulin prices – like complicated insurance plans – but many were still in favor of the measure and celebrated its passage.

The law will come into force on January 1.

The state’s birth doulas, which provide physical and emotional support before and after pregnancies, also celebrated a significant victory with the passage of House Bill 1881, which will allow doulas to seek state certification and certification. get Medicaid reimbursement.

The bill will increase access to birth doulas and work to close equity gaps in perinatal care, especially among Black and Indigenous communities, which have been disproportionately affected by perinatal mortality rates. , said supporters of the bill.

Long-term care

Lawmakers this session solidified changes to several state long-term care services and programs, including amending a controversial section of the WA Cares Fund.

Inslee signed House bills 1732 and 1733 in January, a day after Senate lawmakers voted them out of that chamber. The new laws will delay the WA Cares payroll tax for Washington workers and increase the number of people who can claim permanent exemptions to avoid contributing to the program.

The fund was adopted in 2019 as a social insurance program that helps people with difficulty living alone pay for a range of services, such as transport and meal preparation, nursing care and assistance with independent living.

The program is funded by a 0.58% payroll tax on state employees, which was supposed to start earlier this year but is now delayed until July 2023. The delay is seen as a victory for those who fear that some people will pay. in the program, but might never see the benefits.

“By authorizing this extension, access to long-term care becomes more accessible to people closer to retireest,” Cody wrote in a statement last month.

The final supplemental budget also includes funding that tackles barriers to discharge – which have prevented hospitals from offloading patients who no longer need a hospital bed but still need some type long-term care.

The $548.7 million that has been set aside to help patients exit acute care was ‘significantly enhanced’ by Inslee’s hospital staffing initiative, which it announced in January .

“It’s not only better for patients who are otherwise stuck in hospitals, but it frees up hospital resources for patients in need of acute care,” said Zosia Stanley, vice president and associate general counsel at Washington State. Hospital Association, in a press release.

She continued: “With the ongoing response to COVID-19, hospital resources have proven particularly valuable.”

Information from the Seattle Times archives was used in this story.

Fine jewelry exhibit at FIT highlights the legacy of black scholars and doctors

Gail F. Harder — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 18:50:11 +0000

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Fred P. Pomerantz Center for Art and Design Gallery recently celebrated the opening of Black Health and Wellness, an exhibition of fine jewelry by FIT professor Frank T. Fraley who recognizes the both Western medicine and homeopathic practices across the African Diaspora.

With over 30 years of experience in the jewelry industry, Fraley – owner of Fine Design by Noah – has personally curated a collection of approximately 30 pieces of fine jewelry from the Dominican Republic and Ghana.

The Black Health and Wellness exhibit uses Fraley’s fine jewelry craftsmanship to tell the story of the many common medicinal and wellness practices in Black communities and a nod to the theme of commemorating this year. The showcase honors black scholars and practitioners of Western medicine and doulas, midwives, herbalists, naturopaths, midwives and others.

Throughout history, people of color have relied on their self-determination to bring appropriate health care to their communities amid rampant discrimination and disparities in traditional institutions. This includes the establishment of hospitals, such as the Howard University College of Medicine, and smaller clinics run by grassroots organizations, including the African Union Society.

While efforts have been made to understand and address the physical and mental health of Black communities, the COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced the inequities plaguing the healthcare system. Black Americans often look to ancestral rituals, traditions and healing practices that are deeply rooted in the culture.

“There are multiple facets of Black health and wellbeing that need to be better understood and amplified, and others that may need to be challenged and corrected,” Fraley said. “My goal with this exhibition is to expose people to the rich history of medicine throughout the African Diaspora and to use this education to better both our bodies and our communities as a whole.”

In addition to her own experience living and working in the United States, Fraley spent many years teaching jewelry design to artisans in the Dominican Republic. Currently, he is a professor of jewelry in the international program of the prestigious Altas De Chavon art school in the Dominican Republic. Recently, he also traveled to Africa, drawing inspiration from the Ghanaian people and their unique creations. Both international travel experiences are at the forefront of Black Health and Wellness exhibits in the designs and materials used.

“Frank’s intricate designs and attention to detail combine to create a thoughtful look at the past, present and future of health and well-being in Black communities,” said Michael Coen, Professor and former chair of jewelry design at FIT. “Honoring Black History Month in a unique and authentic way is a difficult task, but I have no doubt that every visitor to the exhibit will be both inspired and educated after their visit.”

An avid golfer and philanthropist, Fraley hosted a series of charitable golf outings to benefit African American health and wellness causes. He designed the Fulani Golf Bracelet, named after the Fulani people, one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, as a beautiful piece of wearable art. The Fulani Golf Wristband is featured in the exhibit and worn by golfers.

Black Health and Wellness will run until March 15. For more information on Frank T. Fraley, visit finedesignbynoah.com.

Cashless and flightless, Russian tourists stuck in Thailand | Health

Gail F. Harder — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 13:19:10 +0000

By CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL – Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thousands of Russian tourists are stranded in Thai resorts because of the war in Ukraine, many unable to pay their bills or return home due to sanctions and canceled flights.

The crisis in Europe has also put a damper on plans to revive the Southeast Asian nation’s tourism industry, which has welcomed more visitors from Russia than any of its neighbors before the pandemic hit. hit.

There are about 6,500 Russian tourists stuck in Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi and Pattaya, four provinces that are popular beach destinations, in addition to 1,000 Ukrainians, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the state, told The Associated Press on Friday. Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Some 17,599 Russians made up the largest block of arrivals in February, accounting for 8.6% of a total of 203,970, according to the Public Health Ministry. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, their numbers drastically decreased.

Yuthasak said Russians face two main problems: cancellations of their return flights by airlines that have stopped flying to Russia and the suspension of financial services, especially by credit card companies that have adhered to the sanctions against Moscow. There are also those who prefer to delay their return.

“Some airlines still serve Russia, but travelers have to transit through another country. We are trying to coordinate and find flights for them,” Yuthasak said.

While almost all direct flights from Russia have been suspended, connections are still available via major carriers based in the Middle East.

He added that efforts were also being made to find alternative payment methods for Russian tourists.

Siwaporn Boonruang, a volunteer translator for Russians stranded in Krabi, said some could not pay their bills because they could no longer use Visa or Mastercard credit cards.

Many have cash and those with UnionPay credit cards, which are issued by a Chinese financial services company, can still use them, but cryptocurrency payment is not allowed, he said. she declared.

Many hotels have helped by offering discounted rates, she added.

The Thai government has offered 30-day visa extensions without payment and is trying to find low-cost alternative accommodation for those forced to stay for an extended period.

War-related problems in Ukraine have dampened hopes for Thailand’s economic recovery. Officials hope to see the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic diminish by July, even as daily cases are currently at record highs, driven by the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Later this year, Thai authorities plan to drop most quarantine and testing regulations that were put in place to combat the spread of the virus, which would make it easier for foreign travelers to enter.

Thailand may have to lower its tourist arrivals and revenue targets this year due to the ripple effects of higher oil prices and inflation on global travel, Yuthasak told the Bangkok Post newspaper.

“Tourism remains a key driver in reviving our economy, although revenues have been hampered by negative factors,” he said.

According to the report, Thailand had expected to earn a total of 1.28 trillion baht ($38.4 billion) in revenue this year from foreign and domestic tourists.

What the COVID “let it rip” strategy has meant for Indigenous and other immunocompromised communities

Gail F. Harder — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 13:00:01 +0000

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 public domain

After a year and a half of lockdowns, border closures, mask-wearing and social distancing, and the rollout of the vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved on to what is essentially a “let it rip” pandemic approach.

It’s a boost from the government to “open up” and “get back to normal”. However, since this approach was adopted, it has led to the spread of omicron at increased rates across the country.

This shift to “learning to live with the virus” makes life more difficult and more dangerous for vulnerable groups such as First Nations, people with disabilities, seniors, people with chronic conditions and immunocompromised people. Refugees and migrants are also more at risk serious illness and death from COVID.

Experts warn: “As the virus moves into vulnerable populations, such as older Australians, people with disabilities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander […] we could see an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.”

This way of thinking was particularly prevalent in the discourse surrounding the release of the Australian Bureau of Statistics COVID-19 Mortality Report. As reported in The Guardiansome media have stated or implied that COVID does not kill enough “healthy” people for it to be considered harmful, thus placing a lower value on some lives.

For example Joe Hildebrand written in an editorial for news.com.au: “…not only did so-called “COVID deaths” account for only 1% of deaths during the pandemic, but 92% of that 1% were people with pre-existing health conditions ranging from pneumonia to heart disease.”

“Living with COVID” doesn’t include everyone

In Australia, some people with weakened immune systems cannot be vaccinated due to chronic disease. There are also some people whose bodies will not respond to COVID vaccines either because of medications for ongoing treatments or because of comorbidities that impact their immune system.

Even if people with chronic conditions get vaccinated, their weakened immune systems mean there is no certainty they would be protected from COVID.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are affected by the disease 2.3 times more than non-Aboriginal Australians.

General practitioner and epidemiologist Dr Jason Agostino of the Australian National University noted“There are nearly 300,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults who are at higher risk of becoming very ill if they are not vaccinated and contract COVID-19.”

ADF staff have been called in to help fight the outbreak, which has infected more than 70 residents and staff.

Via @hapsterpark https://t.co/XKzKS9gtDF

— NITV (@NITV) February 26, 2022

How First Nations communities are still being left behind

Prior to the pandemic, Aboriginal people faced health disadvantages and inequitable access to health care. It has gotten worse since the pandemic. One of the significant issues has been access to affordable food during the pandemic, increased vulnerability of homeless Indigenous people during lockdowns, lack of ability to self-isolate at home, and lack of access to health care. community health.

The pandemic has also disrupted communities that could not see each other due to public health concerns. This has an impact on community approaches to health care, cultural practices and connection to country.

COVID-19 is disrupting the social fabric in the Kimberley as community transmission grows.https://t.co/i7JkEMfMM5

— ABC Indigenous (@ABCIndigenous) February 27, 2022

Some indigenous communities also have limited access to health services and need to be better informed by health workers in their own communities about testing and vaccination. This has been proven by stories like in Arnhem Land, Uncle Charlie Gunabarra, Chairman of the Mala’la Health Service, traveled to remote communities to share information about the COVID-19 vaccine. This led to a a significant increase in vaccinations.

What should happen

A study by the Australian National University, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Lowitja Institute reinforce that First Nations people “must remain a priority group” for Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this study, Dr Tanya Schramm from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said: “Improving access to social determinants such as housing and healthcare will reduce the risk of serious illness from COVID-19 in Indigenous peoples, and this must occur alongside chronic disease care and management and efforts to increase immunization coverage.

Efforts have been made to overcome access to health services during the pandemic through telehealth and online health care options. However, access to these services faces challenges such as limited telephone access, computer literacy and internet coverage. It also has an impact on refugee and migrant communities.

Despite Scott Morrision declaration “We are now at a stage in the pandemic where you cannot make everything free”, not everyone can afford to buy rapid antigen tests. Although there are recent initiatives in place to make them available to concession card holders and the WA population, these tests should be free for all.

Ableism is complex, harmful, and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the damage to priority groups. In order to address this issue, the government needs to better include First Nations communities in its COVID-19 strategies going forward. This can be done by providing resources to health organizations controlled by Indigenous communities in regional and remote areas, as recommended by the Australian Department of Health.

Better government support and communication with First Nations people and their health centers can minimize misinformation and fear around the virus and the vaccine. It could also provide much better access to health care, vaccines and rapid antigen tests.

As Western Australia opens up, some remote Indigenous communities and aged care facilities have been placed under quarantine, we must find better ways to support vulnerable communities in the fight against COVID-19 in Australia .

The first Aboriginal death from COVID reminds us of the outsized risk that communities in NSW face

Provided by The Conversation

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RubiconMD CEO Shares Insights on Behavioral Health and Describes Rural Health Initiative

Gail F. Harder — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 16:06:33 +0000

This interview is part of a series powered by HLTH and CHIME to highlight key insights and perspectives from key leaders speaking at ViVE

Improving access to specialist care is one of the healthcare pain points that RubiconMD seeks to address. Gil Addo, co-founder and CEO of the company, will speak at the ViVE conference March 6-9 in Miami Beach.

First, it will be part of the discussion, The Next Frontiers in Value-Based Care Technology: How New Population Health, Digital Health, and Next Generation RPM and Diagnostics Technologies Can Accelerate the Value (Presented by Deerfield Management).

He will also participate in a round table, Addressing inequitable access #RuralHealthDilemma. In addition to Addo, other panelists include:

Nancy Brown, General Partner, Oak HC/FT (moderator)
Anna Lindow, CEO and Co-Founder, Brave Health
Dr. Jennifer Schneider, Co-Founder and CEO, Welina Care
Roshan Navagamuwa, Executive Vice President and CIO, CVS Health

To view the full agenda, Click here.

To register for ViVE, Click here.

To note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity

From the perspective of ViVE, Addo discussed recent behavioral health and rural health initiatives undertaken by RubiconMD as well as its response to Covid-19 and the recent acquisition by Oak Street Health.

How has Rubicon® evolved since 2014? What were some of the milestones you took in the years leading up to the acquisition?

Gil Addo

The first was to really validate the need we were supporting around value-based care. We have worked hard to develop the payer relationships and partnerships needed to execute this. What we’re doing is more scalable access to specialist expertise, which removes a lot of unnecessary cost from the system… From there, it’s been almost entirely focused on the product and how we innovate in matter of primary care.

We’ve developed a whole bunch of different tools and parts to fit into the primary care workflow more seamlessly. We have developed deep integrations with EHRs to make it easier to submit electronic consultations. We have developed features on mobile [devices]. We have [also] developed a feature to be able to engage other members of a clinic or care team to participate in the process.

We’ve done a whole bunch of stuff from a UI/UX perspective to make it as simple and seamless as possible for primary care.

The other big thing that happened was when we started we had [around] Thirty specialties and sub-specialties. We have determined that one of the most important things to make this as easy as possible for primary care is to have as many specialties as possible on the platform and to be able to really answer all questions. Today, we have 140 specialties and sub-specialties on the platform. It matters because we want primary care [practices] feel like it’s the tool they turn to for all their support and specialist care needs. This includes everything from traditional specialties such as cardiology and dermatology to a wide range of pediatric subspecialties, clinical pharmacy, genetics, and more.

You launched a behavioral health module. Could you give an overview?

We are in the process of commercializing it on a large scale. It’s about being able to provide greater overall support for primary care.

The thing we’ve heard consistently throughout RubiconMD’s history is, “Can you provide better behavioral mental health support?” and our value proposition was that we could reduce costs and strengthen primary care. But if you’re only doing that on the physical health side, but not on the mental health side, you’re not really providing integrated care and support.

We had to invest to really build that. Data suggests it may not be the mental health condition itself [that’s] the high cost factor, but patients with mental disorders cost 6 times more for this system. Primary care is where you can capture, support and manage many of these patients who may never make it to a specialist. We had to create this tool to provide holistic support so that we could build this bridge. It was incredibly well received.

How does this work in practice?

Patients go to their GP, and the doctor can use Rubicon® to get a specialist opinion. We organize a network across the country, and those opinions come back to the primary care clinician within hours. This clinician can then use it to follow up on the patient.

With behavioral health provision, there is a set of patients who are identified as appropriate for collaborative care. They are placed in our program where there is a care manager … who manages this set of patients alongside the primary care clinician. Then we bring a virtual psychiatrist to the care team and they can support the management of these patients longitudinally over time. They can participate in an unlimited number of interactions, we have a collaborative workspace that they can use. They phone each other weekly to discuss cases with the care manager. They can interact directly with the primary care physician when they have questions and, in a limited way, they can also interact with the patient as needed. It means bringing a psychiatrist directly to the care team and [provide] support for this set of patients, the primary care clinician and their team to be able to better manage care.

Additionally, we have created a bespoke registry, to include evidence-based collaborative care tools that care managers can use to manage patients.

So the biggest differences are that it’s both collaborative and longitudinal, compared to online consultations which are pretty much across all specialties, but it’s around specific questions and specific patients.

Which specialty areas do GPs using your platform use the most for e-consultations?

In the lead, dermatology, cardiology, endocrinology, then hematology-oncology as a joint speciality… OB-GYN, infectiology, orthopedic surgery. Neurology is another big field.

How has your platform adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic?

Virtual was the word of the day when the pandemic hit. We have adapted very well. People didn’t want to be seen unnecessarily in person — we provide a much more efficient way to access the right expertise at the right time.

A lot of people who were on the front line were really struggling… so we had to step in in some areas and just be able to provide the support… It was just crisis mode for a lot of these clinics and organizations.

We have created a specific Covid-19 panel to help people learn how to treat and manage patients with [the condition], how to manage its workforce and personnel. There were a lot of questions [at the start of the pandemic] which now seem to be well accepted behaviors and practices, but no one knew about them at first.

We also do CME so we offer CME across every console. We also have webinars on this – that’s actually another thing that’s changed over the years. We made CME to help train and give clinicians a better understanding of how to meet and manage the needs of their patients with Covid-19.

This also relates to your work on health equity?

The thing we’ve seen during the pandemic…we’ve seen a lot of people looking at health equity and how to support the most vulnerable. I think people really outdid themselves at the time to support vulnerable populations and we are above all a tool to be able to offer more equitable access. We saw a lot of organizations trying to figure out how to address disparities and how to better deal with communities that have fewer resources. We have been able to forge partnerships with many community health centers, many organizations that support underserved communities. We’ve started a rural health initiative, which we’ll talk about at ViVE, so we can support those in rural areas who simply don’t have the same access.

The chronic diseases that drive the cost of health care are the same that disproportionately affect black and brown people. So also solve systemic racism [addresses] health care costs.

Could you tell us a bit about the Rural Health Initiative and what that entails?

We already had large populations that we were supporting in rural areas – we wanted to find ways to better tailor the supply and partner with organizations so we could scale faster in these rural areas. Rather than just developing relationships with every clinic in every geographic area, we wanted to find ways to partner broadly so we could provide support in large geographic areas – areas where there isn’t as much population density, but the same needs for access to specialized care. It was really important for us to find evolving ways to be able to meet this need and fulfill our mission of democratizing medical expertise.

So we launched the Rural Health Initiative to find partners. We have some great partners that we’ll be talking about at ViVE in case studies that have allowed us to do amazing work, in Kansas, in Missouri, work that we’ve done in Texas.

And that brings us back to the acquisition of Rubicon® by Oak Street Health. How did this deal come about?

Oak Street Health is a long-time customer and partner. It started with a discussion of how we’re evolving from what we’re building around behavioral health to being able to provide fully collaborative care and management and really evolved into that vision of virtual specialist care. Can we be every primary care organization’s gateway to specialty care where specialty is virtual first? So to be able to do the things that we’ve done in behavioral health, and to do that in virtually every specialty and create these multidisciplinary care teams that are not just siled in academic medical centers but can be given to every primary care organization across the country. Over time, we believe we can become the specialty care operating system for any organization trying to deliver value-based care. This is really the vision of what we wanted to build. Oak Street Health has clearly been a leader in primary care, so we’ve partnered with them. We are getting very close to primary care centers to be able to innovate to support our customers.

Drawing: Elenabs, Getty Images

Local ER doctor helps underserved metro communities fight COVID-19 pandemic – 95.5 WSB

Gail F. Harder — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 04:24:00 +0000

ATLANTA – Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the impact of the virus on underserved communities.

Atlanta’s West End is one of many metro communities, and a local emergency physician wants to make sure communities like the West End get the health care resources that aren’t readily available to them.

Dr. Jonathan Goss is the CEO and Founder of Emergent Testing.

His team is bringing COVID-19 tests, vaccines and treatments to underserved communities in Georgia and Texas.

“Higher positivity rates and lower vaccination rates. This population represents an at-risk population still two years into the COVID-19 pandemic,” Goss said.

Health care at no cost to the patient.

“It’s about bringing health care to the community,” Goss said. “We just want to do whatever we can as a community initiative to support the community.”

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Bringing more jobs to underserved communities is also part of Goss’ mission.

“These employees are the people of the community. there’s a lot of people who said, “Hey, I want to help out when I can,” Goss said.

Venues are set up in tents in a number of different neighborhoods, including Atlanta’s West End, Snellville and Decatur.

The Goss team is now focused on providing the COVID-19 pill, knowing how much vaccine hesitancy still exists in underserved communities.

“We want to give people options. Not everyone wants to get vaccinated, and everyone has their beliefs about that,” Goss said. “If we meet someone who has had symptoms for less than 5 days, they are a candidate to receive the anti-COVID-19 pill.”

Goss said the resources he provides now extend to other health care needs that many of these communities don’t have access to.

It offers telemedicine and it is also free for patients.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Peace Corps Plans to Resume Sending Volunteers Overseas | Health info

Gail F. Harder — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 01:08:00 +0000

By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press

The Peace Corps will resume sending volunteers overseas in mid-March after evacuating them from posts around the world two years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government program announced Thursday.

An initial group of new volunteers and those who were evacuated in March 2020 as the coronavirus began to spread across the world will travel to Zambia and the Dominican Republic this month, according to a Peace Corps statement.

The Peace Corps plans to return volunteers to their posts throughout the year, depending on the number of COVID-19 cases and the host nation’s hospital capacity and the Peace Corps’ ability to transport volunteers to locations. emergency medical evacuation centers. It is currently recruiting for 24 positions.

“Over the past two years, our main goal has been to return volunteers to over 60 countries who are eagerly awaiting their return. And, we have weathered the waves and variations of the COVID-19 situation in every position and redesigned Peace Corps systems, policies and procedures to align them with today’s reality,” said Carol Spahn, CEO of the Peace Corps.

political cartoons

Besides their primary work on local issues, the volunteers will be involved in the COVID-19 response and recovery, the Peace Corps said.

In Zambia, volunteers will coordinate with local leaders and partner ministries to provide education on COVID-19 and promote access to vaccinations for communities, officials said. In the Dominican Republic, the focus will be on helping communities overcome issues exacerbated by the pandemic, such as rising school dropout rates, literacy skills and preparing young adults for work.

“I was absolutely thrilled. It’s been a dream of mine since I graduated high school,” said Campbell Martin, 23, of Sonoma, Calif., who applied last summer after graduating. from UCLA and is expected to begin serving in June as a primary teacher/trainer in The Gambia. He still needs medical and legal clearance.

“I want a career in the foreign service and I knew that Peace Corps was a wonderful step, not only to serve as a citizen of the world, but also Peace Corps – its mission, its intention – is something in which I believe very much. “, did he declare. “As COVID shut down the world, I also knew these opportunities would shut down for me until things started to reopen. Now that things have started, I’m just ecstatic about it.

The Peace Corps celebrates its 61st anniversary this week. Two years ago, it had 7,000 volunteers in 62 countries when they were evacuated and sent back to the United States.

Since those evacuations, the Peace Corps has called for volunteers to help with the national COVID-19 response and has developed a virtual service pilot program. Not before March 2020, the organization founded by President John F. Kennedy had to evacuate all of its volunteers at once.

More than 240,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers in numerous countries since the program’s inception in 1961. The goal is to help countries meet their development needs through a variety of programs – from the education in health and agriculture programs – while helping to promote a better understanding of Americans. Typical service lasts two years after a period of training.

How Aflac and Deion Sanders are helping close the medical debt gap

Gail F. Harder — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 21:27:29 +0000

Countryside: Fill the gap
Company: Aflac
Agency partners: Spark Foundry (paid media and streaming); Allison+Partners (earned media and public relations); XP Agency (film production); dagger (social media); and Aflac Studio (creative assets and first production)
Duration: January 19, 2022 — ongoing

Aflac wants to help Americans affected by medical debt. Former NFL and MLB star Deion Sanders is helping the supplemental insurance company do just that with its Close the Gap initiative.

Strategy

Aflac announced in October that it would provide $1 million in grants throughout 2022 to families, individuals and organizations who have been overwhelmed by unexpected medical events.

Meanwhile, Sanders was hospitalized that month due to complications from foot surgery. He missed three games, lost almost 40 pounds and was warned he might need to have his leg amputated, based on a documentary on the team.

“Luckily I was able to focus on my recovery and not worry about the cost,” Sanders said in a Press release to close the gap. “However, too many Americans, especially those of color, lack the same peace of mind and are one step away from a medical incident that could easily lead to financial ruin. I have a shared commitment with Aflac to help close the gap for those without a voice and to raise awareness about the medical debt disparity in America.

Shannon Watkins, director of brand and marketing at Aflac, said the company partnered with Sanders because “we wanted to choose people – not just talent – but people who shared an alignment with our vision for this work, and it was to highlight the fact that yes, many Americans across this country have health insurance, but there will be a gap, and that’s where Aflac comes in.

Nicknamed “Prime Time” during his playing career due to his athletic ability and flashy personality, Sanders is now garnering attention due to his accomplishments as the head football coach of the historically Black University. (HBCU) Jackson State University in Mississippi.

Most notably, he landed the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2022, which would be impressive for any school, let alone a relatively unknown school.

Aflac took note of Sanders’ impact on football; fellow African Americans; and the HBCU and decided to hire him as a brand ambassador.

Tactical

In October, Aflac published a video testimonials featuring his clients discussing the benefits of supplemental insurance for expenses not covered by health insurance. The company encouraged people to submit their stories of an unexpected medical expense that sidelined them. The company produced the videos through its internal agency and released multiple versions of particular testimony, Watkins said.

“We found that very direct storytelling was critically important,” Watkins said. “It’s about defining the problem, defining the solution Aflac can provide and ending with a clear call to action to learn more, and this can be done via the website or by filling out a form. of contact to speak to an agent.”

In January, the company distributed 20 grants of $5,000 to some of those individuals and plans to distribute the remaining $1 million throughout 2022, Watkins said.

The company also produced an animated short, The park benchabout a young girl upset by her father’s diagnosis of sickle cell disease until she finds a new friend: the Aflac duck.

Rob Edwards, Disney Writer The princess and the Frog, wrote and directed the film, and hip-hop icon Nas provided musical direction. The company planned to premiere the film at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, but when organizers moved it to a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Aflac had to adapt as well.

“We absolutely had to pivot our approach from a focus on media activation to a focus on consumer activation through digital,” Watkins said.

On January 22, the company used live streaming platform Twitch to showcase the film and a live panel including Watkins, Sanders and Edwards.

Results

The paid social campaign on Facebook received 2.3 million completed videos.

The livestreamed panel and premiere of the initiative on Aflac’s Twitch channel generated over 137,000 views; 302,000 minutes watched; and 11,000 maximum concurrent connected users.

The park bench received over 2 million video views on Hulu, Roku and Amazon in nine days.

News outlets such as the New York Post, Forbes, Gasoline and KTLA covered the countryside.

This article originally appeared in United States.

The Yale School of Public Health will transition from a department to an independent school

Gail F. Harder — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 04:34:33 +0000

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The Yale School of Public Health will transition from a department under the Yale School of Medicine to an independent school. Credit: Kylie Cooper

Yale University leaders announced that the Yale School of Public Health would become an independent school, moving from a department under the Yale School of Medicine.

YSPH offers fifteen different joint degree programs with other fields of study. Yale will provide a $150 million endowment to the school in hopes of bolstering its public health impact. $100 million of the endowment is allocated to ensure the school’s financial stability, while the remaining $50 million is for endowment funds raised by the school over the next five years.

YSPH has played a role in advancing the field of public health by stimulating initiatives, such as the development of saliva-based COVID-19 tests, and by providing research on health and disease equity. like Ebola, HIV/AIDS and tick-borne diseases, Yale President Peter Salovey wrote in the announcement.

The endowment will be paid to YSPH after a new Dean is appointed – the search for which will begin this week.

The new dean will be determined by Yale’s president and a search advisory committee and they will both lead the school through its transition and have ultimate responsibility for the school’s budget, Salovey wrote.

The decision comes after YSPH students and faculty called on Yale to grant school autonomy, following the COVID-19 pandemic that sparked conversations about public health and the controversy surrounding the possibility that the former dean of the School of Public Health has been forced out of his role.

“We have lived through a historic crisis that underscores the need for public health for the well-being of communities in this country and around the world. We also know that other public health threats require immediate attention, including those resulting from climate change, food insecurity, water scarcity, health inequalities and the growth of infectious and non-communicable diseases,” Salovey wrote in the announcement.

Yale expects the transition to take place over the next 12 to 18 months, according to the Yale Daily News.