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Healthy Metric went live today, releasing five new brief reports focused on health disparities in Wisconsin. These first reports provide an initial look at the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on health and health disparities. The first five reports provide an initial look at the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on health and health disparities. They cover a wide range of issues impacting health outcomes and health care in Wisconsin including:

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, two leading causes of premature death in Americans (CDC - High Blood Pressure). In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Heart Disease).

The UW ICTR Neighborhood Health Partnerships Program (NHP) is excited to announce the launch of their latest ZIP code level report, the Sociodemographic Profile Report.

To make sociodemographic information easily accessible and comparable across geographies, NHP has launched a new report that provides information on the social determinants of health at the ZIP code level. This report uses U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) data to provide additional context about living conditions and demographics for most ZIP codes in Wisconsin.

Self-rooming is a relatively new process where patients direct themselves to an assigned exam room immediately after checking in, bypassing the traditional waiting room experience where a staff member would escort them from the waiting room to the exam room.

PATH member, Sandra Kamnetz, MD developed the Retrofitting Clinics for Self-Rooming toolkit to provide a framework for implementing self-rooming in any primary care clinic, including those that were not intentionally designed for this purpose. The tool provides decision-makers with prerequisites to consider, tips, supplies needed, and the steps to implementation, as well as workflows for patient check-in and check-out.

HIP Investigator, Dr. Jen Weiss and Matt Gigot will be presenting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences Monday Seminar Series on 4/11. Their presentation: Measuring and Addressing Health Disparities Through a Statewide Quality Improvement Collaborative will address important topics on health disparities. To view the full details of the seminar, click here or view below.

When: Monday, April 11^th, 12:00-1:00 pm

Where: Health Services Learning Center (HSLC), Room 1335

Are you interested in local level data on vaccinations, screenings, blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and more for your research? This lunch & learn will show how to leverage ICTR Neighborhood Health Partnership (NHP) program data on WI neighborhoods (zip code level) covering 27 health outcomes and care measures spanning the care continuum including wellness, prevention, risk factors for chronic diseases and chronic disease care. Attendees will also learn about funding opportunities for competitive research proposals through the ICTR Pilot Award Program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put new constraints on the care of patients. Concerns about viral transmission, limiting exposure, proper PPE utilization, and evolving best practices in caring for patients with a novel viral disease has led to healthcare workers feeling high levels of uncertainty and has left healthcare systems scrambling to prepare their staff for sudden surges in patients.

Authors developed the WIRED-RT COVID-19 Simulation Curriculum Toolkit to help health systems and healthcare providers prepare for surges in COVID-19 cases by focusing on proper PPE utilization, infection control practices, and patient care best-practices as of the date of publication.

HIP Investigator, Dr. Elizabeth Cox and her PROKids team, in collaboration with the investigators at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and West Virginia University, have received a 5-year P01 grant from the National Cancer Institute focused on improving rates of HPV vaccination. The study will implement and evaluate an evidence-based intervention, “the Announcement Approach,” in over 40 pediatric and family medicine practices who are members of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality or the West Virginia Practice-Based Research Network.