Partnership Matters
Brought to you by the Labor Management Project, Partnership Matters gathers news about best practices, training opportunities, reports and more to help you keep up with the latest trends in health care delivery and labor-management partnerships.
Our Patient Centered Care Program Boosts Patient Satisfaction
When you first heard about patient-centered care, you might have wondered what it means and why it matters. You might even have wondered if it’s just the latest buzzword for something you’re already doing. After all, isn’t all the care we deliver patient-centered? But providing patient-centered care means more than just being professional, proficient and compassionate.
Labor and Management Gather to Discuss Healthcare Reform
At a Labor Management Project (LMP) conference on June 3, union members and managers from over 70 organizations gathered in Brooklyn to hear from New York State Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson and other distinguished speakers. The theme of the day was how to make the shift from simply treating illness and disabilities to helping people stay healthy, and the mood was generally positive.
Demystifying DSRIP
On April 1, the long year of planning and application for New York State’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program came to a close and the city’s healthcare providers began the major reform efforts required by DSRIP. Here is a brief summary of what’s happening and what it means to you and your patients or residents.
LMP Launches Workplace and Community Health Program
Diabetes rates are three times higher in New York City’s low-income neighborhoods than in its high-income ones. They are also higher among Blacks and Latinos than among whites, and the same holds true for heart disease and high blood pressure. The LMP is committed to working together with the union and management to address this problem as it affects 1199SEIU members.
Worksite Wellness Successes and Lessons
On April 28, ten labor-management teams gathered with the Labor Management Project staff and sponsors to tell one another how they had improved their own and their co-workers’ health and physical fitness.
Learning a Kinder, Gentler Approach to Dementia Care
Palliative care involves taking active steps to discover what comforts an individual: what gives someone pleasure and what might cause unnecessary pain and suffering. Providing palliative care for people in the advanced stages of dementia can be especially challenging, but it can also be particularly rewarding.
Hospital Readmissions Program Sparks Debate
Research estimates that nearly one in five hospitalized Medicare patients ends up back in the hospital within 30 days of discharge. These rehospitalizations are costly and potentially harmful. Many are also avoidable. As part of the Affordable Care Act, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid established readmission penalties to decrease avoidable readmissions. Some healthcare providers and experts believe that this policy unfairly penalizes hospitals that care for low-income patients.
Affordable Care Act Narrows Racial Disparities in Access to Care
The new insurance coverage made possible by the Affordable Care Act narrows longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in access to healthcare, but it does not eliminate them, a recent study finds.
Resources
WhyNotTheBest.org is a free resource that helps track performance on healthcare quality measures.