|
SAVE THE PATIENTSM NEWSLETTER | Summer 2006 |
In its efforts to educate, inform and empower the people of Chicago , SAVE THE PATIENT (STP) launched a 30-minute live call-in show on the Chicago Access Network (CAN-TV). The first installment of Community Health Hotline aired on Monday, May 22, 2006 .
The monthly talk show will give everyday people a proactive approach to managing their health care said Lenore Janecek, president of STP. Viewers who wish to join discussions can call-in to pose questions or share concerns. “This new televised platform gives Chicago 's diverse population a voice in matters affecting their use of health care,” explained Janecek. “The open discussion format is designed to help mend the disparity between the wealth of health care resources available and the dearth of people who are actually aware of them.” Ms. Janecek, a nationally known health care expert and author, is the host of this groundbreaking program
Over the course of the series, the show will feature representatives from the health care field (including legislators, community leaders, and health care advocates) as they discuss current health care issues, topics, resources, and events. Please join us on Monday, July 31, 2006 , and August 28, 2006 , at 6:00 PM on CAN-TV Channel 21 for our show on community health.
For additional information call: CAN-TV at 312-738-1400 or e-mail us at savethepatient@aol.com.
The Intercultural Cancer Council reported in the Chicago Sun-Times that uninsured adults with cancer face a 25% greater chance of dying than cancer patients with health care coverage . Uninsured breast cancer patients have up to a 50% greater chance of dying than insured patients. These statistics were reported in a study commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation analyzing health-care access in each state to help launch the Foundation's Cover the Uninsured Week activities.
The Commonwealth Fund, a New-York-based private health care policy foundation reported in its study of the uninsured that the percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41% in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28% in 2001 without coverage.
More than half of the uninsured adults said they were having problems paying their medical bills or had incurred debt to cover their expenses, according to the report by the Commonwealth Fund. The study of 4,350 adults also found that people without insurance were more likely to forgo recommended health screenings such as mammograms than those with coverage, and were less likely to have a regular doctor than their insured counterparts.
Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said, "When women with insurance are in their 40s, they start getting mammograms regularly. But for people without health coverage, it's a different world. They cannot access basic care or diagnostic screenings because of the cost, so their minor illnesses become major ones."
In Illinois , 21% of women with health insurance ages 40 to 64 didn't have a mammogram within the past two years, while 38% of uninsured women went without the screening test.
Screening rates for colon cancer also vary greatly between uninsured adults, three-quarters of whom are not screened, and those with insurance, half of whom are not screened.
The percentage of individuals earning less than $20,000 a year without insurance rose to 53%, up from 49% in 2001. Overall, the percentage of people without insurance rose to 28% in 2005 from 24% in 2001.
A series of reports by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that despite the lifesaving feats performed every day by emergency departments and ambulance services, the nation's emergency medical system as a whole is overburdened, under-funded and highly fragmented.
As a result, ambulances are turned away from emergency departments once every minute on average and patients in many areas may wait hours or even days for a hospital bed. Moreover, the system is ill-prepared to handle surges from disasters such as hurricanes, terrorist attacks, or disease outbreaks.
Their findings and recommendations are presented in three reports compiled by The Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System. The committee was convened in 2003 to examine the state of emergency care in the U.S. , to create a vision for the future of emergency care, including trauma care, and to make recommendations to help the nation achieve that vision. The three reports are:
Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point explores the changing role of the hospital emergency department and describes the national epidemic of overcrowded emergency departments and trauma centers.
Emergency Medical Services at the Crossroads describes the development of EMS systems over the last forty years and the fragmented system that exists today.
Emergency Care for Children: Growing Pains describes the unique challenges of emergency care for children.
The IOM will hold a series of dissemination workshops following the release of the reports. The principal objectives of the workshops are to:
• disseminate findings from the IOM study;
• provide a forum for engaging the public and stakeholder groups in a national discussion of issues identified in the IOM reports;
• explore the implications of the committee's recommendations at the federal, state, and local levels;
• identify continuing research and data needs; and
• consider implementation issues and strategies.
Three regional IOM workshops will be conducted in different sections of the country. A fourth capstone workshop will be conducted in Washington , DC . Workshops will be conducted as one-day public meetings, and will include panels comprised of experts and key stakeholders drawn from the region and nationally. The workshops will feature invited presentations and structured discussions. Workshop locations have yet to be released.
Following completion of the four workshops, the IOM will publish a workshop summary report that describes the format of the workshops, summarizes the formal presentations including key sources of evidence, and synthesizes the discussion including various stakeholders' points of view.
Funding for the workshops will be provided by the following organizations and agencies: American College of Emergency Physicians, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American College of Surgeons, Emergency Medicine Residents' Association, National Association of EMS Physicians, Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics, Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors and Emergency Nurses Association.
The importance of making your health care a “Team Effort” is the theme of Save the Patient's new public service video released in June. The video is being distributed through public access networks and television stations across the country. The video is also available in Spanish.
The 30-second video promotes the importance of taking charge of your health care and working together with health care providers. The video was produced in cooperation with Columbia College .
Suzanne Stefanski, vice chair of the STP Board of Directors, said the video was the brainchild of founder and president Lenore Janecek and written and produced by Danny Kravitz of Columbia College . Francine Sanders, a film instructor at Columbia Collage, served as STP's film advisor. Stefanski added, “Creating an easy-to-understand video that promotes the empowering of the public in terms of health care is a natural extension of our mission. We wish to awaken the public to the issues and promote communication and cooperation between the patient and the provider.”
Anyone interested in airing the PSA, or helping us reach other media outlets in Illinois or throughout the country, please contact us via e-mail at savethepatient@aol.com or at our website www.savethepatient.org.
The mission of Save the Patient is to educate and empower patients and the public to make effective and informed health care decisions through objective resources. We are accomplishing our goal by providing information through Patient Advocacy, Community Outreach, Educational Seminars, the Internet and our Health Carrying Cards. We have distributed over 10,000 of the Health Carrying Cards, which are available in Spanish, Polish, English, and Chinese. Over 100,000 people have visited our website.
Save the Patient is a nonprofit, exempt 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the support and education of individuals on health care matters. We need your support to underwrite our programs and educational efforts. To make a donation, visit our website at www. savethepatient.org or write us at Save the Patient, 260 E. Chestnut Street, #1712 , Chicago , IL 60611 or call 312-440-0630. Contributions to Save the Patient are eligible for federal income tax deduction.
One of the key elements of a successful patient encounter is quality communication between the treating health care provider and the patient. At Save the Patient we have provided some guidelines to help make your visit to the doctor's office, clinic, or hospital a good one.
REMEMBER you can ask the doctor to explain , repeat, or write down what you want to remember or do not understand.
During the exam, you may ask:
These questions were taken from the Save the Patient Health Carrying Card. To view the full list of questions on the Health Carrying Card, check out our website at www.savethepatient.org.