Providing primary health care through integrated microfinance and health services in Latin America

The simultaneous burdens of communicable and chronic non-communicable diseases cause significant morbidity and mortality in middle-income countries. Integrating health-related services with microfinance has been shown to improve health knowledge, behaviors, and access to appropriate health care. However, limited evidence is available on effects of fully integrating clinical health service delivery alongside microfinance services through large scale and sustained long-term programs, so this study analyze descriptive reports and administrative data for measures related to improving access to primary health services and management of chronic diseases. 

Advancing team-based primary health care: a comparative analysis of policies in western Canada

The article analyzed and compared primary health care (PHC) policies in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan to understand how they inform the design and implementation of team-based primary health care service delivery. The goal was to develop policy imperatives that can advance team-based PHC in Canada. 

What do we mean when we talk about the Triple Aim? A systematic review of evolving definitions and adaptations of the framework at the health system level

Notwithstanding important contributions of the Triple Aim, uncristal enthusiasm regarding the implications of the framework may be leading to  inconsistent use, particularly when apploed at the health system level, which goes beyond he original positioning of the framework as a strategic organizing principle to guide improvement initiatives at the organizational or local community level. This article identified uses of the Triple Aim that extended beyond its original intention to focus on uses at the whole health system level, to assess convergence and divergence with the original definition. They also attempted to identify consistencies in the way the Triple Aim was ...

“On the Margins and Not the Mainstream": Case Selection for the Implementation of Community based Primary Health Care in Canada and New Zealand

Healthcare system reforms are pushing beyond primary care to more holistic, integrated models of community based primary health care (CBPHC) to better meet the needs of the population. In order to scale up and spread successful models of care it is important to study what works and why. The first step is to select "appropiate" cases to study. In this commentary, this study reflect the difficulty in identifying "successful" models to study, the value of drawing on clinical and organisational networks and experts, and the association between policy context and ease of case selection. Such insights have important implications for ...

The role of informatics in patient-centered care and personalized medicine

This article covers the critical role that laboratory information systems, electronic medical records, and digital imaging plays in patient-centered personalized medicine. The value of integrated diagnostic reports, clinical decision support, and the use of whole-slide imaging to better evaluate cytology samples destined for molecular testing is discussed. This article also highlights the barriers to the widespread adoption ot these disruptive technologies due to regulatory obstacles, limited commercial solutions, poor interoperability, andlack of standardization. 

User-Centered Design of a Tablet Waiting Room Tool for Complex Patients to Prioritize Discussion Topics for Primary Care Visits.

Complex patients with multiple chronic conditions often face significant challenges communicating and coordinating with their primary care physicians. These challenges are exacerbated by the limited time allotted to primary care visits.

OBJECTIVE:

Our aim was to employ a user-centered design process to create a tablet tool for use by patients for visit discussion prioritization.

METHODS:

We employed user-centered design methods to create a tablet-based waiting room tool that enables complex patients to identify and set discussion topic priorities for their primary care visit. In an iterative design process, we completed one-on-one interviews with 40 patients and their 17 primary care ...

Integrating primary care providers in the care of cancer survivors: gaps in evidence and future opportunities

Since the release of the Institute of Medicine report: From cancer patient to cancer survivor: lost in transition, in 2005, there has been a national call in the USA to provide coordinated, comprehensive care for cancer survivors, with an emphasis on the role of primary care. Several models of care have been described, which focus on primary care providers (PCPs) as receiving cancer survivors who are transferred after successful treatment, and who are given specific types of information from oncology-based care (eg, survivorship care plans), and not as active members of the cancer survivorship team. They provide recommendations for education ...

Achieving Health Equity: A Guide for Health Care Organizations

This white paper provides guidance on how health care organizations can reduce health disparities related to racial or ethnic group, religion; socioeconomics status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity, geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion. 

It includes: 

-A framework, with five key components, for health care organizations to improve health equity in the communities they serve

- Guideance for measuring health equity

- A case study of one health care organization that has strategically integrated work to improve health equity throughout their system

- A self- assessment tool for health ...

Community health center provider ability to identify, treat and account for the social determinants of health: a card study

The social determinants of health (SDH) are conditions that shape the overall health of an individual on a continuous basis. As momentum for addressing social factors in primary care settings grows, provider ability to identify, treat and assess these factors remains unknown. Community health centers care for over 20- million of America´s highest risk populations. This study at three centers evaluates provider ability to identify, treat and code for the SDH.

The results suggest simple methods of identification may be sufficient. The addition of searchable codes and reimbursements may improve the way social factors are addressed for individuals and ...

How do we know? An assessment of integrated community case management data quality in four districts of Malawi

The World Health Organization contracted annual data quality assessments of Rapid Access Expansion (RAcE) proyects to review integrated community case management (iCCM) data quality and the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for iCCM, adn to suggest ways to improve data quality. 

This data quality assessment illuminates where an otherwise strong M&E system for iCCM fails to ensure some aspects of data quality. Prioritizing data management with documented protocols, additional training and approaches to create efficient supervision practices may improve iCCM data quality.