Posts from — June 2010

Title: “There’s No Place Like Home” State Budget Rally!
Location: Roberto Clemente Memorial Park (Corner of Art Rooney Ave. and N. Shore Dr. – Near the site of the Mr. Rogers Statue)
Description: Join us for our annual state budget rally to make sure that home and community based services receive adequate funding in the PA State Budget. We all know that the budget battle is in full swing and we need to be sure that our legislators hear loud and clear that the Pittsburgh community supports these programs and services!
PA State Budget Rally Flyer
Start Time: 12:00
Date: 2010-06-25
End Time: 12:45

The experience of caring for a loved one such as a parent or grandparent is something that many people share.  Depending on the situation this can be an especially difficult time and unfortunately, navigating the health care system can be a big contributor to this.

What might be surprising to some is that many providers such as physicians and nurses acknowledge this as well.  They know that for all of their efforts, the way that our health care system works makes it hard to achieve the results they want while keeping the patient and their family involved.  Below is a comment from Dr. Christine Arenson that I think accurately illustrates some of the shared frustrations of those that know the health care system best:

“As a practicing family physician and geriatrician, I work daily with patients from across the economic spectrum, for whom the best, evidence-based self-management and chronic care support simply DOES NOT exist.  This is the case even for those who are not relying exclusively on public programs and are able to pay for these services themselves.   I also see the waste and unaligned incentives which so often lead to poor care and bad outcomes.

Furthermore, as a physician educator working with my team to teach and implement some of the proven strategies around improving geriatric care, I face the up-hill battle of convincing my students that there is a better way to practice and to impact the lives of their patients. Too often, they see our work as unrealistic and impossible in the “real world” of health care as it is currently practiced in America.

In order for my profession to provide more coordinated, patient-centered care, the incentives in our system need to be such that they actually support the use of evidence-based treatment.  This is in contrast to our current system that simply encourages providers to order more procedures and prescribe more medications. We must be able to engage patients in self-management support, education, and behavior change strategies with proven efficacy, and we need greater ability to test and disseminate practice-based interdisciplinary team-care to learn how to realize the true potential of the patient-centered medical home.”

Title: Chronic Care Commission Public Event
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Description: The Governor\’s Office of Health Care Reform has asked CHC to invite members of the public and representatives from organizations to attend this event and hear about the great work of the Chronic Care Commission. Participating primary care practices will be sharing their experiences and talking about how the program has allowed them to provide better, more patient centered and coordinated health care.
Start Time: 9:00
Date: 2010-06-08

Greetings, Advocates,

Here is the piece on the latest Mayview hearing that aired on WDUQ

http://www.wduq.org/index.php/component/content/article/78-local-news/226-mayview-sale

GOP health-care repeal attempt fails.  Jake Sherman. Politico.com.  June 16, 2010.