In a recent study by Dr. Andrew Quanbeck et al., coaching primary care doctors on opioid prescribing guidelines resulted in a 11% drop in opioid doses at UW Health clinics. Conversely, doses increased by 8% at other clinics in the health system where the coaching program was not implemented. The results from the study come at a crucial time as the opioid abuse epidemic continues in the state and nationwide.
1 in 3 women will unfortunately die from heart disease. In a recent video on Discover Wisconsin, Dr. Heather Johnson discusses signs and symptoms of heart disease, as well as tips for living a heart-healthy lifestyle that can reduce your chances of heart problems. View the video below or on the Discover Wisconsin site here.
Yao Liu, MD recently spoke on the Wisconsin Doctors program about how the UW Teleophthalmology program is working with the Mile Bluff Medical Center to screen patients close to their homes for diabetic eye disease, which is the leading cause of blindness in working age adults in Wisconsin and nationally. Through teleophthalmology, patients can be screened for diabetic eye disease through photos taken with retinal cameras at clinics near their homes. The images are then sent to UW-Madison, where ophthalmologists review them for signs of retinal damage.
View the episode below or on Wisconsin Doctors here.
We're excited to welcome Edmond Ramly, PhD as a new faculty member at HIP! Edmond is a health systems engineer and new Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. His work focuses on designing best practices for ambulatory care that balance standardization and local adaptations. Recently, he has worked closely with Dr. Christie Bartels to implement work system redeisgn for hypertension protocols.
Dr. Heidi Brown is testing a new program, "Mind Over Matter," to reduce or prevent incontinence in women in Wisconsin. Fecal and urinary incontinence are common issues affecting women, but they are rarely discussed. The Mind Over Matter program will recruit 120 women in south and central Wisconsin who will be randomly assitned to receive the program (3 sessions that are 2 hours each), before or after taking a survey on symptoms. The program is designed to focus on things that the participants can do to relieve symptoms, such as changing diet, fluid intake, and exercise. Read more about the study here.
Dr. Christie Bartels is conducting a year-long study on how to help patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis quit smoking. She is using a novel approach of not only asking health care providers for their thoughts, but also seeking patient input through focus groups on the best way to reach patients who smoke to help them quit. “The goal of the study is really to invite people to better health and not necessarily to shame people for smoking behavior, which I think has been the perception for years,” Bartels said. Read more about the study here.
Dr. Heidi Brown has launched a study to test the effectiveness of an educational program, "Mind Over Matter," that explores the causes, prevention, and treatment of fecal and urinary incontinence in women. As many as 60% of women above the age of 55 have one of the two types of incontinence, and Dr. Brown's study will determine whether the Mind Over Matter program can reduce their symptoms. The program consists of three sessions that are two hours each, and uses a "train the trainer" methodology to deliver the course material. The study will take place at locations across southern and central Wisconsin, and study participants will be surveyed before and after on their symptoms to determine the effectiveness of the program.
A team of investigators that includes Dr. Elizabeth Cox recently received funding from AHRQ and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop and implement new children's quality measures for asthma and sickle cell disease. The project is funded under the Pediatric Quality Measures Program, and will be used by state Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs, as well as payors, clinicians, and patients & families to measure improve the quality of care for children with these diseases.
Dr. Heidi Brown was recently awarded $100,000 over two years from the Wisconsin Partnership Program to test the effectiveness of a community-based continence promotion program called "Mind Over Matter; Healthy Bowels, Healthy Bladder." Bladder and bowel incontinence affects over 60% of older women and increases their risk of injuries, depression, and hospitalization, but most women do not seek care for the condition and are unaware of self-management strategies. This project will use a randomized, controlled trial of women in Wisconsin to test the effectiveness of the program, and a toolkit will be developed to help senior centers more easily assess whether the program is a good fit and implement it if it is.
HIP is partnering with the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) to monitor the prevalence of obesity in the state of Wisconsin. With HIP’s support, WCHQ recently developed a publicly reported metric on adult Body Mass Index (BMI). Data for this measure was recently released for the first time by 20 healthcare organizations on 1.7 million patients across the state.