quality Archives - Mediarabe

Release of module and mapping of tools on stakeholder and community engagement in quality of care initiatives for maternal, newborn and child health

October 14, 2020

The WHO and UNICEF recently published a module to guide policy makers and programme implementers working in quality improvement in maternal, newborn and child health, to support making comprehensive and meaningful stakeholder and community engagement an integral part of quality improvement (QI) initiatives.

Orientation module

This module compliments the implementation guide developed by The Network for Improving Quality of care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (QoC Network). Four key topics are covered, including: rationale for engagement; building and
strengthening partnerships; strategies for information, communication and advocacy; and monitoring, evaluation and learning.

Mapping of tools

The mapping of tools identified 70 tools to further support implementation of stakeholder and community engagement across the seven steps of the Quality of Care Network’s Implementation Framework*. The
tools are available through an online portal, which allows uses to filter based on the different topic focus and phase of implementation.

* 1) establish leadership

Fair Haven Community Health Care ranked as a top 10 quality leader by federal agency

October 12, 2020

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| Community Health

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — In this pandemic, it has never been more important for low-income neighborhoods to have access to good health care.

At the same time, Fair Haven Community Health Care (FHCHC) is earning national recognition for the work it is doing.

It is one of nearly 1,400 federally-qualified health centers. To get their funding, those centers are all required to send in a copious amount of information every year.

“The government crunches those numbers, and then in the summer, they come out and say these are the health centers that, out of the 1,400 nationwide, have done the best,” explained FHCHC CEO Dr. Suzanne Lagarde.

This summer, the center was recognized as being in the top 10 percentile for being a quality leader, and the top two percent in handling of behavioral health by the Health Resources & Services Administration.

The organization began in 1971, seeing just

African countries need more air quality data

October 11, 2020

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| Health Benefits

The harm that air pollution is doing on the African continent seems to be growing. Estimates of premature mortality attributed to air pollution have increased from about 570,000 in 1990 to over 700,000 in 2013. In the same period, premature deaths from unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and childhood malnutrition have decreased across Africa.

Many challenges also remain for the continent to reach the Sustainable Development Goals related to air quality.

But these estimates have high levels of uncertainty, because of the shortage of air quality data they’re based on. So while it appears that the scale of the problem is large and increasing, it’s difficult to quantify it accurately. What’s needed is monitoring on the spot.

Current assessments rely heavily on a limited number of terrestrial measurements of air pollution. They use air quality models and information from satellites to fill in the gaps. In areas where there’s less information

The Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) Announces Case for Quality Collaborative Community with FDA Participation

October 7, 2020

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| Community Health

The Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) will participate in its Case for Quality Collaborative Community (CfQcc) initiative.

The CDRH identified participation in collaborative communities as a strategic priority for 2018 to 2020. The purpose of a collaborative community is to bring together medical device stakeholders in a continuing forum of private- and public-sector members, including the FDA, to achieve common outcomes, solve shared challenges, and leverage collective opportunities. Ultimately, collaborative communities seek to contribute to the improvement of areas affecting U.S. patients and healthcare.

“The FDA is committed to working with diverse stakeholders to help ensure that patients and health care providers have access to safe, effective, and high-quality medical devices,” said Francisco Vicenty, CfQcc program manager within FDA’s CDRH. “Today’s announcement reflects the agency’s commitment to collaborative communities and builds upon existing

Quality Health Care With NPs and M.D.s

October 4, 2020

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| Health

Oct. 4, 2020 9:50 am ET

Wright & Associates nurse practitioner Caitlyn Hutter conducts a telehealth appointment on Sept. 3.

Photo:

Kayana Szymczak for The Wall Street Journal

There is no room for misinformation in any debate about nurse practitioner and physician comparability. Rebekah Bernard argues (Letters, Sept. 26) that “studies that show equivalence in care between nurse practitioners and physicians are flawed” and that “not a single large-scale study has compared the care provided by nurse practitioners practicing independently without physician supervision.” Dr. Bernard is wrong on both counts.

In 2000 the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article written by the chairman of the Department of Medicine at Columbia University, the chair of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center physician-contracting group, several other eminent physicians, and me. The article was a report of a randomized clinical trial (which is the gold standard for medical-research evaluation) of more

Teachers worried about their health, quality of education amid COVID-19 pandemic

October 2, 2020

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| Health Education

OTTAWA — Kelly Main says she has never felt as exhausted and stressed during her 27 years of teaching high school as she has since returning to the classroom this fall during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As someone who teaches Grades 10 and 12 in Waterloo, Ont., she is facing the challenge of delivering material to students in class and online at the same time.

Waterloo Region School Board, like many others across the country, has adopted a hybrid system to have a smaller number of students in class at one time in a bid to avoid COVID-19 outbreaks.

“We’re expected to deliver the material every day to both cohorts,” she said of the 15 students she has in class with her and the other 15 who are studying remotely from home. The two groups switch places every five days.

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“You’re never going to be on the

Wellness, quality of health care centerpiece of new Ohio Medicaid plan

October 1, 2020

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| Health Benefits

Catherine Candisky

| The Columbus Dispatch

Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration has unveiled plans for a long-awaited overhaul of the $28 billion Medicaid health-care program covering more than 3 million poor and disabled Ohioans.

The Ohio Department of Medicaid seeks to update its managed-care setup with a focus on wellness and improving the health of beneficiaries, meeting the needs of children with complex needs, and reducing administrative hurdles for patients and health-care providers.

The stakes are huge: The five current managed-care organizations received a combined total of more than $15 billion from the state.

It was the managed-care organizations that hired pharmacy benefit managers, which have grown controversial in Ohio during recent years for charging excessive rates and under-reimbursing pharmacies. But the Medicaid department, under a measure state lawmakers passed in July 2019, is moving to a single PBM next year hired by the state agency to keep closer watch over

Pro Football HOF receives National Minority Quality Forum award

September 29, 2020

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| Better Health

Edd Pritchard

| The Repository

CANTON The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s work with promoting wellness and better health will be recognized next week by the National Minority Quality Forum.

The Booker T. Washington Award, presented annually by the NMQF, will be given to the Hall of Fame on Monday in a ceremony at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

NMQF and the Hall of Fame have been partners in several programs, particularly working together on the Hall’s “Strong Young Strong Communities” outreach effort. It connects Hall of Fame members with youth across the country as part of a partnership with Centene Corp., a national health care provider.

“We have seen the impact that it has had on the students, parents and leaders from Oakland to Orlando,” Gary A. Puckrein, NMQF president and chief executive officer, said the of “Strong Youth Strong Communities” program.

Puckrein will present the award to

Zenni Launches Global B2B Program, Unveils Corporate Gifting to Bring Quality, Affordable Eyewear to Businesses and Their Employees, Customers and Partners

September 29, 2020

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| Health And Wellness

NOVATO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zenni Optical, the eyewear industry’s leading online retailer, today announced the launch of a corporate gifting program to provide businesses with the ability to order its customizable eyewear and signature Blokz lenses in bulk options for their employees, partners, customers and prospective clients. The launch of this program underscores Zenni’s commitment to providing quality, affordable eyewear for everyone, while emphasizing the importance of eye health as part of overall health and wellness in the workplace and beyond.

Zenni’s corporate gifting and bulk purchase program provides companies with the ability to bring high-quality, protective eyewear to stakeholders at a reasonable price. Zenni will work together with its B2B clients to tailor orders to a business’ unique goals, achieved primarily through design customization options that include a wide selection of Zenni’s most popular, fashion-forward frames. Corporate partners will be able to make their selections from an array of

Global partnership to make available 120 million affordable, quality COVID-19 rapid tests for low- and middle-income countries: WHO | Indiablooms

September 29, 2020

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| Global Health

Geneva: A set of agreements to make available, for low and middle-income countries, affordable, high-quality COVID-19 antigen rapid tests were on Monday announced by the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. Organizations involved in the milestone agreement include the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), the Global Fund, Unitaid, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

As part of this comprehensive, end-to-end effort, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has executed separate volume guarantee agreements with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) producers Abbott and SD Biosensor.

These two arrangements will make available to LMICs 120 million antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDTs) – priced at a maximum of US$5 per unit – over a period of six months.

These tests provide results in 15–30 minutes, rather than hours or days,

Wright & Associates nurse practitioner Caitlyn Hutter conducts a telehealth appointment on Sept. 3.