CryerHealth Blog
August 13, 2010 – 8:01 am
CryerHealth has been privileged to have on board a team of brilliant hardworking interns from MPH programs around the world who contribute much to our efforts to create patient-centric solutions. Here is an insight into one assignment:
I was recently tasked with an attempt to find opportunities for patients to act as policy makers and committee members at a governmental level. This is an important and critical area because patients and their family members bring unique perspectives to government committees. They provide personal experiences with or possess knowledge pertaining to specific illnesses and conditions.
At USAJobs, a database of federal vacancies, I discovered policy analyst positions at Health and Human Services. Unfortunately, positions required pervious experience and employment in the federal government. This is not really suitable for most patients and for those rare patients who do wish to look; this database is not easily navigated. It is clear that USAJobs has postings for paying jobs as opposed to vacancies for membership on government committees. It is a resource for those hoping to find governmental employment.
The Food and Drug Administration does have a FDA Patient Representative Program. Patient representatives for the FDA are responsible for providing advisory committees with their particular and unique opinion and perspective. They are able to serve on advisory committees when a product or therapy is under review.
I looked through a series of government entities for patient opportunities on committees to serve as patient advocates but had little luck. I searched through the following:
1) National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality http://www.ahrq.gov/about/council.htm
2) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
3) The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
4) Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCOCRI)
5) The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
6) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
7) The Institute of Medicine (IOM)
From my search I have discovered that there are not many committee openings for patients to become involved as patient advocates. There are plenty of job openings or positions for clinicians, physicians, policy makers and analyst but none for advocacy from patients. Navigation at government websites was also very difficult and tedious. Expanding my search to consumer advocacy did manage to yield a few more results but even that was not very promising.
There is a clear disconnect between patients who wish to serve as patient advocates and interest or awareness from these government committees. Sadly a huge opportunity is completely overlooked if patients cannot serve on these committees. As e-health and patient advocacy expands in importance, there must be more opportunity from government agencies to seek the input of patients. Accessibility and opportunity must be improved so that HHS can improve patient e-health and health IT, as these are their new agenda items. Patients are a specific group that have a uniquely and irreplaceable experience that encompasses a particular and key perspective of patient care. Without tapping into this demographic, a government committee loses this voice and does future patients and projects a disservice. It is also high imperative that patients are not lumped into the group with consumer advocates. Consumers include those who consume and use products used to treat patients, this does not necessarily represent those who are experiencing a condition or disease first hand but rather a group that has a monetary incentive in future policies. The goals and vision of all consumer advocates does not completely match those of patient advocates, patients are not always put first with consumer advocates.
In order to improve patient advocacy, more patient spots on committees are a necessity. From my search it is evident that only the FDA has made a legitimate attempt to seek input from patients and provide a way for this key demographic to voice their concerns, thoughts and ideas. Patient committee members are able to put their own experiences and their voice forward to committees. They are able to invoke an emotional and personal understanding with other committee members and have a direct impact on key decisions and policies. Medicine and patient advocacy must not become a clinical experience where marketing and cost are the focus. Without representation, biased and skewed decisions will stem from these committees and only patients will suffer.
A recent Tweet from NACSmeetings read: “Healthcare: What it means to you? Tuesday Business Program Keynote with David Cutler, Harvard Professor, 2010 #NACDS Pharmacy Conference.”
Healthcare’s greatest inherent challenge is that it means something different to every person. Health is more oft than not, experienced primarily at the individual level. Healthcare is personal. The healthcare differences, definitions, and issues between any two people can be vast.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “health” as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity* .”
Within the context of the WHO definition, the patient-centric model may be viewed as such:
Within the framework of the patient-centric model presented (above), I believe “health” is wholly experienced at the micro-level when the patient (individual) is able to fully interact (communicate) with its “health influencers” in a meaningful way. These interactions assist in developing a global understanding of health factors and help produce the well-being framework necessary for a person to “feel” healthy. “Health influencers” may include everything from the macro-environment, to personal biases, beliefs, and behaviors related to health.
I believe individuals should feel empowered when approaching or interacting with the healthcare system and each respective “health influencer.” For example, these behaviors can be as simples as having a meaningful dialogue with a member of the patient care team, having a productive interaction with an insurance company, or commenting on a blog post from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The doctor-patient interaction is by far one of the most complex “business” exchanges. This interaction also represents the greatest opportunity for improvement within the medical system. Many patients leave the physician’s office unsure of exactly what transpired. They generally know they were touched here, they were touched there, and a few test were conducted. The patient is then explained (in medical terminology) what is wrong or right. If this single interaction could be improved upon many patients would feel better about healthcare in general. I wish more doctors could be like Patch Adams.
In a nutshell, that’s what healthcare means to mean. What does healthcare mean to you?
* preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.
Setting: Washington, DC, Capitol Hill East. My morning run starts at the top of 17th Street, SE, just blocks from the United States Capitol. Instead of taking a scenic jog towards the United States Capitol, my jogging route follows the road less traveled and heads south, towards Benning Road, NE.
The landscape changes quickly in this neighborhood: manicured hedges are soon unkempt; lawns are soon littered with glass, take-out boxes, and other random debris. Picket fences soon become mangled steel, protecting gateless, grassless lawns. There is always an edge in the air that contrasts sharply against the crisp morning air.
One morning I arrived at Benning Road and 17th Street NE, surprised to see the George Washington University “Mammovan.” I decided to observe. The presence of the Mammovan added a different element to the community. I noticed three staff members, two wearing t-shirts. People were comfortable asking the staff questions, they were clearly familiar with the Mammovan’s presence. Within moments the Mammovan became an integrated member of the community.
I believe the mobile health model can only grow and may be the “next” thing to take off in healthcare. I think this, not only for its current applications in underserved medical communities and the increased federal funding for mobile health, but I believe the mobile health model can also be applied in communities with dense elderly populations and quite possibly even in rural communities.
Imagine a completely kitted mobile health unit visiting an adult only condominium community. I think many in the baby-boomer generation would much rather receive medical care at home or from a mobile unit instead of in a home for the elderly. It only helps that the mobile health unit is showing significant return-on-investment.
Just recently, researchers from Harvard Medical School developed a ROI model depicting for every $1 invested, the mobile health unit returns $36* . This stat was also referenced in a Newsweek article A Little Van with a Big Impact. Since Massachusetts enacted its healthcare reform in 2006, costs have increased by 52%. The mobile health van has been shown to help defray some of that cost while providing a quality, highly accessible healthcare service.
It only helps that Kaiser Permanente unveiled a completely wired mobile health van in Hawaii in 2009. This vehicle was projected to impact an estimated 12,000 Hawaiian residents. The vehicle also comes with Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, Kaiser Permanente’s electronic health record. Stay tuned, the mobile health unit just may be the cornerstone for the future of community health delivery.
*BMC Medicine, online publication, June 2, 2009, “Calculating the return on investment of mobile healthcare”Nancy E Oriol(1), Paul J Cote(2), Anthony P Vavasis(3), Jennifer Bennet(4), Darien DeLorenzo(5), Philip Blanc(6) and Isaac Kohane(7)
One of the keys to implementing a patient-centric model in healthcare organizations is for leaders to create an organizational culture of “happiness.” Yes, happiness. Recently, I heard a conversation by Dan Kennedy, known for coaching people to build what he refers to as the “success personality.” In this conversation, Kennedy references two key stats:
- Eighty-percent of all Americans are unhappy with their careers.
- Sixty-percent of Americans are unhappy with their personal lives.
When we consider these statistics within the context of the healthcare service delivery environment, a supposed “healing” environment, it goes without saying that with unhappy employees (physicians, nurses, and allied health workers) we are almost assured our healthcare organizations will struggle in providing quality care and customer service in what is arguably the most important service oriented environment.
“Happiness,” as an organizational priority should not be mocked or laughed at—rather it should be fully embraced. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos and author of “Delivering Happiness,” is known for regularly asking his employees where they exist on the “happiness scale,” and if they are below a “10,” what it would take for them to get to a “10.” Building a business based on this philosophy, Zappos has quickly become an organizational model for profit and corporate culture–-this when many unbelievers said people would “never buy shoes online.”
What if hospital executives asked nurses where they exist on the happiness scale, would patient care improve? Better yet, what would happen if doctors asked nurses where they exist on the happiness scale? In every patient room, in every United States hospital there is a “pain scale” chart. Providers regularly ask patients “where are you on the pain scale?” This scale has 10 faces ranging from  to  and everything else in between. The interesting thing about this scale is the smiley faces subconsciously reflect the patient’s “happiness,” and not just the patient’s “pain.” Are patients with more visitors happy? Do happy patients have a speedier recovery, thus a better patient experience and better outcomes?
It has been well documented that happiness directly affects the immune system. In “The Immune Power Personality: 7 Traits You Can Develop to Stay Healthy,” author Henry Dreher, delves deeply into the connection between happiness and the immune system. With this much data on the subject, one would think more healthcare organizations would focus on happy patients and happy healthcare workers.
The break-up of the AT&T monopoly in the 1970s provides further evidence there are clear, undeniable linkages between happiness and healing. During the AT&T transition, employees that remained healthy were found to have the following traits: 1. sense of purpose, 2. sense of control, 3. acceptance of change, and 4. diversified interests
The science of happiness has actually been described by Marty Seligman, PhD, former president of the American Psychological Association (APA). In 2000, Dr. Seligman and the APA created the Positive Psychology movement. This after recognizing most of psychology’s research focused on mental illness vs. health and optimal living. Dr. Seligman authored a book titled, “Authentic Happiness,” where he explores the inner-workings of positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. As healthcare workers, it would do us a world of good to set aside 30-minutes to take Dr. Seligman’s Brief Strengths Test. This test suggests that we should focus on building our core competencies instead of focusing on developing our weaknesses.
When we apply this thinking to healthcare service delivery models we can be assured that these concepts may create “ripples” within management and doctor circles, but these tested principles can in fact have a dramatic influence on healthcare outcomes, quality, and customer service.
Secretary Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) should be commended for the immediate $250 million provisioning from the Prevention and Public Health Fund. Although this fund provides:
1. $168 million to train 500 new primary care physicians;
2. $30 million to encourage 600 nursing students to finish school and join the profession;
3. $32 million to create 600 new physician assistants;
it still may not improve the nation’s primary care “network.” The reality of the United States primary care network is there is no “network.” Adding more people (jobs) to an already uncoordinated, non-communicating system will not increase efficiency or the quality of care—it will only add to the complexity of the current environment and to the daily frustrations of the healthcare worker.
According to Landmark: America’s New Health-Care Law and What It Means for Us All, the workload of primary care doctors will increase by 29% in 15 years. In 2007, only 23% of internal medicine residents planned to enter primary care, down 54% from 1997.
The stark truth: in the medical community, primary care is more oft than not viewed as “the Lord’s work,” a “labor of love,” a thankless job where highly educated physicians (and practitioners) have to make dozens of follow-up calls, schedule treatments, run a practice, pay malpractice insurance, and try to figure out Medicare reimbursement rates. For a new physician, this reality is daunting and may possibly be the largest detractor to the pursuit of this career path for healthcare workers. Bottom-line, there is no George Clooney “marketing” primary care.
Researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change examined the experiences of 2,284 physicians in Medicare’s fee-for-service program where each physician treated on average, 264 Medicare patients. The study found that for every 100 patients treated, a single physician may need to contact 99 other physicians in 53 practices to garner a complete “patient picture,” (?!?!?!?).
The $11 billion earmarked for the nation’s primary care “system” must consider the coordination and communication of practitioners in their respective communities. Technological investments must be made, at the community level, to lessen the administrative burden of these valued practitioners. In a Harvard School of Public Health study, of 2,135 physicians (all not primary care docs), 1 out of 3 physicians said they experienced increased administrative burden after the Massachusetts healthcare law was implemented. In general, recommendations to consider in improving the nation’s primary care system should include:
1. Subsidies for malpractice insurance for new primary care practitioners.
2. Improve the coordination of Medicare billing at the local level. Reduce reimbursement times from clinic billing to accounts receivable.
3. Expand the role of physician assistants and nurse practitioners in the medical practice. They have brains and experience; they should be put to good use.
Until the family practice joins the 21st century in its ability to communicate and connect with patients, providers, and provider entities in a medically safe and efficient manner, we can only expect the same.
April 23, 2010 – 10:35 am
At the 7th Annual National Minority Quality Forum/Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust, Dr. Gary Puckerin reemphasized medicine’s failure at treating medical patients as customers. In my experience as a hospital manager, I’ve found the best health delivery systems and organizations pride themselves in recognizing patients as customers. As healthcare advocates, we should strategically implement and find ways to encourage more organizations to treat patients as customers.
In Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s memo to Sibley Hospital, he outlined his entire patient experience—what went well and what should have been improved upon. As a renowned international quality consultant, Dr. Deming was all too familiar with creating a customer focus via the implementation of sound business process—without process there would be no way to predict a successful customer outcome.
In his memo, Dr. Deming was shocked by the lack of a customer focus displayed in a healthcare setting. In his book, The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education 2nd. edition, Deming outlines 14-points for delivering quality and a customer focus in an organization and creating a “System of Profound Knowledge:”
1. Constancy of Purpose Towards Improvement. “Create constancy of purpose for continual improvement of products and service to society, allocating resources to provide for long range needs rather than only short term profitability, with a plan to become competitive, to stay in business, and to provide jobs.”
2. Adopt The New Philosophy. “We can no longer live with commonly accepted levels of delays, mistakes, defective materials, and defective workmanship. Transformation of Western management style is necessary to halt the continued decline of business and industry.”
3. Cease Dependence on Inspection. “Eliminate the need for mass inspection as the way of life to achieve quality by building quality into the product in the first place. Require statistical evidence of built in quality in both manufacturing and purchasing functions.”
4. Move Towards a Single Supplier for any One Item. “End the practice of awarding business solely on the basis of price tag. Instead require meaningful measures of quality along with price. Reduce the number of suppliers for the same item by eliminating those that do not qualify with statistical and other evidence of quality. The aim is to minimize total cost, not merely initial cost, by minimizing variation. This may be achieved by moving toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long term relationship of loyalty and trust.”
5. Improve Constantly. Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production, and service. Search continually for problems in order to improve every activity in the company, to improve quality and productivity, and thus to constantly decrease costs. Institute innovation and constant improvement of product, service, and process.
6. Institute Training. Institute modern methods of training on the job for all, including management, to make better use of every employee.
7. Institute Leadership. Adopt and institute leadership aimed at helping people do a better job. The responsibility of managers and supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. Improvement of quality will automatically improve productivity.
8. Drive out Fear. Encourage effective two-way communication and other means to drive out fear throughout the organization so that everybody may work effectively and more productively for the company.
9. Break Down Barriers between Departments. Another idea central to Total Quality Management is the concept of the ‘internal customer’, that each department serves not the management, but the other departments that use its outputs.
10. Eliminate Slogans. Eliminate the use of slogans, posters and exhortations for the work force, demanding zero defects and new levels of productivity, without providing methods.
11. Eliminate Management by Objectives. Deming saw production targets as encouraging the delivery of poor-quality goods. Managers should create processes to reach objectives.
12. Remove Barriers to Pride of Workmanship. Remove the barriers that rob hourly workers, and people in management, of their right to pride of workmanship.
13. Institute Education and Self-improvement. Advances in competitive position will have their roots in knowledge.
14. The Transformation is Everyone’s Job. Clearly define top management’s permanent commitment to ever improving quality and productivity, and their obligation to implement all of these principles.
Many healthcare organizations implement Deming’s points in various ways. Some hospitals implement customer service programs that provide the opportunity for service recovery. At Sibley Hospital (Washington, DC), departments that deliver high customer satisfaction are given the Golden Coat Hanger Award in honor of W. Edwards Deming and Sibley’s commitment to high quality. Deming had been a patient at Sibley in the early 1990s and had called the CEO into his hospital room and said, “You don’t trust your patients, do you?”
Jerry Price, the CEO was puzzled.
“Look in the closet,” Deming roared.
Price looked in the closet and it was filled with the coat hangers used in hotels, the hangers that have little balls that must be fitted into tiny holes.
“How would you like to be 92 years old and sick and you couldn’t even hang up your clothes?” Deming demanded. “Do you think your patients want to steal your coat hangers?”
Following his stay, Deming wrote a letter to Sibley and sent a $25,000 check and instructions to buy new coat hangers for all the patients’ rooms.
Price did so, had a number of them sanded down and got Deming to sign them. Today, the quality awards at Sibley are sturdy wooden hangers with hooks and Deming’s signature mounted in a frame.
I started the day thinking “all I need is a physical, how difficult can it be?” The situation: a work physical with an immediate deadline, and like many men, I avoid doctor visits at all costs. It helps that I’m in overall good health, not on any prescription meds, and visit the gym religiously.
The day started with a call to my primary care provider—he was booked for weeks, a physical would not be taking place in his office on this day. I decided to try all avenues, next up: MinuteClinic. My search started on-line at the MinuteClinic website—I was impressed with what I found: a menu of treatment options, the prices clearly labeled, and even a few different options for physicals. MinuteClinic seemed like the perfect logical option, fast and convenient.
After taking a careful look at my physical form, I knew it would be helpful if I gathered some old medical records (immunization shots, etc.). The form itself seemed straight-forward and basic enough for MinuteClinic: height, weight, blood pressure, some “basic” blood-work. I called my mom, inquiring about my shot records.
“Shot records?” she said. “What shot records?”
I sighed, wondering, what happened to the on-line personal health record?
I replied “Remember…. my shot records…?” She drew a blank.
Fortunately, my mother lives about 25-minutes from my home. I dug through a few dozen files at her home, and came across what I was looking for—original shot records, in perfect physician script, circa 1980! I had some paperwork, I felt like an empowered patient—that feeling would eventually fade.
I drove to a MinuteClinic and walked inside, of course the nurse practitioner would be on a lunch break for another 20-minutes. I decided to follow-through with the registration process—high tech touch screen, the navigation was simple, as was the information requested: name, address, phone, e-mail address, and a general reason for the visit. After registering, I was taken to a screen where I saw that I was third in queue. I noticed my name was listed with the other patients’, first name, with my last name initial. I did not like having my name so visible, in such a public place. I found myself wishing the screen had prompted me for some privacy option beforehand. I assumed the practitioner would spend 20-minutes per patient, leaving me with an hour to kill.
On my way to MinuteClinic, I passed a small family, urgent care clinic, just a 3-minute drive away. I decided to visit, to see if they would be able to handle my physical request. I spoke to the receptionist, explained my situation, and she handed me a clipboard with several sheets of paper. As I sat down to write what seemed to be a journal entry, I took note of a young patient (about five-years-old), accompanied by his father. The father held a stack of medical records about an inch thick. I overheard the nurse calling the doctor—he was out at the moment and would return to the practice “soon.” The young patient and his father had already been waiting for an hour.
The clinic’s medical questionnaire was more specific than the MinuteClinic version. The form requested: my medical information, my mother’s medical history, my father’s medical history, my mom’s parents and my father’s parents. I couldn’t help but think about how convenient it would be if I already had this information online. It didn’t help that I had already checked my Facebook and Twitter in the few moments that I was sitting in the waiting area. After filling out the forms, I handed them to the receptionist. Then I waited. I checked my time. The antsy five-year-old patient made me feel antsy. I decided it was time for me to head back to the MinuteClinic.
As I walked inside the MinuteClinic the patient ahead of me in queue was just leaving. The nurse practitioner checked the touch screen panel to see the next patient—it was me. I handed the nurse practitioner my physical form. He informed me that “Yes, MinuteClinic performs physicals, but at a much lower-level.” He could draw not draw blood and there would be no urine sample. I referenced the physical test mentioned on the website where urine samples were mentioned—he shrugged his shoulders and gave me a list of urgent care centers that may be able to provide the need tests and information. The empowered patient turned into the disenfranchised patient. I thanked the nurse practitioner and went back to the family practice.
The doctor was back in the office. The five-year-old patient was replaced by a much older gentleman, with a stack of papers about an inch thick (he put my five sheets of paper in an envelope to shame). The receptionist showed me to an exam room, then she transformed into the nurse-receptionist—she took my basic vitals and blood-pressure. The physician entered the exam room; he was quite professional and distinguished. He made time for conversation, gave me an efficient medical interview, and he took time to read the paperwork. I was told I had to return to have my PPD read, at which time I could also possibly have my tests returned and physical complete.
On my way leaving, I heard the older gentleman discussing his insurance matters, he recently changed providers. In his seat, sat a middle-aged woman with a stack of medical papers—at least an inch thick.
I left the physician’s office thinking about my medical experiences. In the wake of healthcare reform I could not help by think about what needed improvement. I thought about the macro-level:
• how many physician offices across the United States operated just like this, and
• how would these operations network/connect to hospitals, large insurers, and pharmacists?
• I thought about the convenient care industry, wondering if the nurse practitioner model could be improved upon. Could nurse practitioners be given additional medical responsibilities? Should nurse practitioners be given additional responsibilities?
• I also started thinking about medical school training—are doctors in training given a complete picture of the office experience prior to residency? If so (or not) should they be given this opportunity?
I also considered the micro-level:
• how could I have been more prepared as a patient;
• how can I organize my full medical record (without a platform like GoogleHealth—I’m an online guy, but I just don’t want my e-mail sharing the same platform as my health record);
• how can I find a physician that can utilize my medical record in an electronic format;
• what are the five things a patient should know or do before an office visit?
I decided to Google that question “What are the five things a patient should know before a doctor’s visit?” The query results were varied and included information about emergency room visits, specialist visits, and some video. I found the following links helpful:
• How to Talk to Your Doctor, Jennifer Frank, Family Physician at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Appleton, Wisconsin
• Five Tips for Your Next Doctor’s Visit, Good Morning America’s, Dr. Marie Savard
• Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)
Dear Friend of Health and Patient Advocacy,
While we all wait to learn the results of the tremendous public debate on expanded health care and insurance reform, significant changes in the practice of medicine and delivery of health care are proceeding non-stop. Electronic health records are one example of how technology is transforming patient-provider interactions, but digitalization is also being applied to new devices and medical technologies. When combined with wireless communication, patient and diagnostic data can be uploaded from and sent to all locations with an Internet connection. For patients with chronic conditions anywhere or living in remote areas, this means vital signs and many health conditions can be monitored and reported without limitations of geography, transportation or time. But one more change is also quickly revolutionizing health care and that is genomic applications.
Now, the Friends of the National Library of Medicine has organized front-line developers and users of these new technologies in a ground-breaking two-day conference at the Natcher Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD to highlight how these changes are fostering true patient-centered care and creating a new “e-Patient” paradigm. The conference will also put the patient experience at the forefront of the presentations and consider the meaning of comparative effectiveness evaluation in a time of personalized health care.
Although the early registration deadline is past, the Friends of the National Library of Medicine is offering a 50% registration discount to personnel associated with nonprofit and patient advocacy organizations. You can review the entire ePatient program at http://www.fnlm.org, but to register at the $195 rate, please send an email requesting this special rate to Sarah Pease at spease@oai-usa.com.
Thank you, and I hope to see you at FNLM’s ePatient conference on April 6-7, 2010.
Download the promotional flyer
Sincerely,
Richard Gelula
Executive Director
Friends of the National Library of Medicine
P.S. Flash Update: Dr. David Blumenthal, the Administration’s National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, has confirmed as keynote speaker. Other keynotes will be given by Susan Dentzer and Ewe Reinhardt as well as presentations by leaders in research, technology, industry, patient advocacy and other topics.
February 24, 2010 – 8:17 am
Work at CryerHealth does not end at 5 o’clock. Sometimes the most exciting and thought-provoking moments happen at the score of evening events we attend around town (our town being the Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C.). Watch for more postings in our Last Night series to venture with us into the more fun and informal healthcare happenings.
Our chief medical officer serves on the board of the Sister to Sister: The Women’s Heart Health Foundation. We were guests of Mrs. Irene Pollin (founder) as were two female Chinese cardiologists, experts in women’s health and cardiac health from NIH, and the leadership of the American Women for International Understanding. The visiting cardiologists, on a tour of hospitals in Boston and San Francisco in addition to D.C., were charmed by our interest in acupuncture and found healthy cooking demonstrations and large scale public education programs as top tactics to take back with them.
Food for thought:
- Increasing urbanization in China creates a perfect storm of factors for increasing heart disease – less exercise, high fat/high sodium foods, even air pollution
- With only 10% of Chinese patients with hypertension under treatment and in control of their blood pressure, stroke is poised to become the #1 cause of death
Hopefully, by fostering collaborations of the best in Eastern and Western medicine to benefit patients globally we can export health instead of harm.
Links:
http://www.sistertosister.org/
http://www.awiu.org/
February 1, 2010 – 6:52 pm
Welcome to the CryerHealth Blog.
CryerHealth is the only patient and physician owned and operated consulting firm. We are committed to ensuring that the voices, perspectives, and knowledge of patients, physicians, and other healthcare providers are driving health and healthcare innovation today.
Our Chief Executive Officer, Donna Cryer, has been actively involved with the healthcare system as a patient since being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis as a teenager. She received a liver transplant at Johns Hopkins between 1st and 2nd years of law school at Georgetown. These experiences were life changing. Donna has worked in healthcare policy, advocacy and communications for more than 14 years in Washington, DC.
Our Chief Medical Officer, Dennis Cryer, a physician/researcher, has spent the past 25 years in roles both in academic research (molecular genetics and metabolic pathways) and in the pharmaceutical industry (drug development and Advocacy/External Affairs), always maintaining a passion for patients’ rights and the elimination of disparities in healthcare.
Our interests are broad and varied, but it is our belief that it is not only possible, but imperative, that we work to improve healthcare through the collaboration of patients and physicians.
Our hope for this blog is that it will serve as a forum for new ideas and different perspectives. We plan to focus on a variety of topics and issues across therapeutic disciplines, from important advances in medical science to key developments in healthcare reform, and will regularly supplement our own thoughts with those of guest bloggers. It is our intent that this blog will help to inform and shape the conversation around healthcare in America in the 21st century.
So we invite you to read and participate in this blog, and hope that it will fill an unmet need in contemporary discussions of healthcare.
–Dennis R. Cryer, MD, FAHA and Donna R. Cryer, JD
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