A trio of speakers from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology will serve as keynote speakers at the ACU Health IT and the Underserved Conference March 7 - 8, 2013 in Poughkeepsie, NY, about 80 miles north of New York City. Kevin Larsen, Medical Director of Meaningful Use, David Hunt, Chief Medical Officer and Acting Director of the Office of Health IT Adoption, and Joy Pritts, Chief Privacy Officer, all from the Office of the National Coordinator, will … [Read more...]
Health IT and the Underserved
ACU believes that health information technology (health IT) is a vital tool in achieving the health care reform goals of increasing access, improving care delivery, engaging in culturally competent outreach and education, and enhancing workforce development and training.
An electronic health record that includes documentation of demographics, including race and ethnicity, risk factor assessments, and evidence-based preventive and chronic disease management decision support, enables clinicians to more effectively manage the complex health care needs of vulnerable populations. Health IT can assist in promoting patient self-management and self-empowerment through available cultural and linguistically appropriate patient information, improved communication with clinical staff, and support outreach efforts which lead to improved health outcomes and reduction in health disparities.
View the ACU Health IT Resource List here.
Michelle Lamb, Pharm.D., CDE, BCACP
December 10, 2012 by
Clinical pharmacist Michelle Lamb, Pharm.D., CDE, BCACP, takes pride in being part of a transdisciplinary health care team. She combines high tech (health IT is an important tool in enhancing patient care) with and high touch, delivering information tailored to the patient’s culture and literacy level. … [Read more...]
New Smartphone App on Tobacco Cessation
November 15, 2012 by
ACU has launched a new smartphone app that helps clinicians talk to patients about tobacco use. The app includes a six brief questions that clinicians can ask patients to measure their nicotine dependence. Release of the app coincides with the annual Great American Smokeout, a day when Americans are encouraged to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. The ACU Low Health Literacy Nicotine Addition Test scores the patient's responses to the six questions and … [Read more...]
Register Now!
October 16, 2012 by
Register today! Conference Overview Health Information Technology (HIT) in its many forms has the power to vastly improve health outcomes for the underserved, but many health care organizations are in the earliest stages of adopting these technologies. This conference is intended for front line clinicians, to provide you with an opportunity for dialogue and networking with national and regional leaders and your colleagues to better harness the potential of HIT for the underserved. NETWORK … [Read more...]
Adolescents and Stage 2 Meaningful Use
September 11, 2012 by
Clinicians struggle with the complex challenge of maintaining an accurate electronic medical record when a parent has authority to access their adolescent child’s record. Could increasing patient engagement with Stage 2 Meaningful Use create regulatory challenges in HIPPA privacy rules and electronic health records (EHRs) for the adolescent patient population? In 2001, the Institute of Medicine report Crossing the Quality Chasm emphasized the importance of patients having access to their … [Read more...]
ACU a Partner in National Health IT Week
September 10, 2012 by
This September, the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) is joining approximately 200 public and private sector organizations to participate in the 7th Annual National Health IT Week (September 10-14, 2012). National Health IT Week 2012 is the premier event offering all healthcare stakeholders an opportunity to unite under one banner, expressing the benefits that health information technology (HIT) brings to U.S. healthcare. “One Voice, One Vision.” On Thursday, September 13, … [Read more...]
JHCPU Special Issue on Quality Improvement
September 5, 2012 by
Evidence for Informing the Next Generation of Quality Improvement Initiatives: Models, Methods, Measures, and Outcomes, the August 2012 special supplement to the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU), includes quality improvement initiatives from across the safety net. Among the topics addressed are promoting healthy weight, cancer screening and follow-up, HIV care, medication use, urban health, depression, early childhood caries, diabetes, asthma, and more. View the full … [Read more...]
mHealth Technology and the Underserved
August 30, 2012 by
Tom Martin, author of the ACU Column Assessing mHealth Opportunities and Barriers to Patient Engagement [PDF] published in the August 2012 Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, offered his thoughts on the use of mobile healthcare (mHealth) technologies in caring for the underserved. Martin is a manager at mHIMSS and a doctoral student in public policy at the University of Delaware. Q. In the article, you say that text messaging is a popular example of mhealth technology. Can … [Read more...]
Deadline Sept. 12 — Call for Presentations and Posters on Health IT and the Underserved
August 19, 2012 by
New Deadline: Wednesday, September 12, 2012. ACU invites interested presenters to submit abstracts for workshops and posters for its first conference on Health IT for the Underserved to be held on March 7-8 at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel in Poughkeepsie, NY. Presentations are sought on the use of health IT to improve patient care and outcomes, including: health technology tools, workforce training, patient engagement, team-based technology, patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) and meaningful … [Read more...]
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