Patient Care Access News

Poor care access leaves youth mental health crisis in limbo

April 23, 2024 - Only around half the kids displaying symptoms of anxiety or depression are getting a clinical diagnosis for the disorders, and even fewer are able to access care, according to a new United Hospital Fund report that paints a picture of the youth mental health crisis in America. In 2021, only 39 percent of adolescents experiencing a major depressive...

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Articles

Racial health disparities in premature death pervasive in all US states

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Even in the best-performing states, racial health disparities have left their mark, with new reporting from the Commonwealth Fund showing serious differences in life expectancy and preventable deaths...

Kaiser Permanente zeroes in on food is medicine philosophy

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Kaiser Permanente is continuing its charge pioneering healthcare’s food is medicine philosophy by launching its own Food Is Medicine Center of Excellence, the health system recently...

14% of women say Dobbs decision stalled access to abortion

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The 2021 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has had far-ranging effects, with new KFF polling showing that one in seven women of reproductive age (18-49) know someone who’s had a...

US lags in usual source of care, primary care access

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Adults in the United States are among the least likely to have a usual source of care compared to other high-income nations, a finding that Commonwealth Fund researchers say may signal the...

Chronic care access limits diagnosis & quality for women

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It could take more than a year longer for women to get a diagnosis for a chronic disease than it could for their male counterparts, with new survey data showing stark disparities in how women rate...

Retail health clinic utilization climbed by 202% by 2022

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Retail health clinic utilization soared a whopping 202 percent nationally from 2021 to 2022, signaling the continued care access shift into alternative care sites, according to the FAIR Health...

Health equity investment slated to continue into 2024

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Health equity efforts will almost certainly maintain their pace over the next year, as healthcare leaders assert that equitable care and closing of heath disparities is a social, ethical, and political...

Are rising US maternal mortality rates inflated?

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A new study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology is calling into question the high US maternal mortality rate, stating that many of the maternal deaths documented in the...

Behavioral healthcare access in community health centers up 40%

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The number of behavioral health visits to community health centers soared by nearly 40 percent between 2018 and 2022, but if these care sites are to continue to meet patient demand, they’ll need...

White House Commits to Ending Hunger, Diet-Related Illness by 2030

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The White House kicked off the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities yesterday, leading industry standouts like Missouri-based health system Ascension and health IT vendor...

Is SNAP the Solution to Healthcare’s Medication Adherence Woes?

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Connecting patients experiencing food insecurity with SNAP benefits could improve medication adherence by as much as nearly 14 percent, according to new data from The Ohio State University. The study,...

Racially Diverse ZIP Codes See Disparities in MAT Access

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ZIP codes with more racial and ethnic diversity have markedly fewer buprenorphine prescribers and far lower rates of dispensed buprenorphine prescriptions, according to researchers from the University...

Updated HHS Health Equity Action Plan Focuses on Care Access

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HHS has unveiled the 2023 update to its Health Equity Action Plan, hitting key points like childhood health and well-being, equitable access to care, and maternal and infant health equity, among other...

Patient Clinical Needs, Provider Skill Set Misalign 57% of the Time

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“It’s not you, it’s me.” For nearly three in five patients, the clinician they meet with is a bad fit for their current medical needs, according to new Zocdoc data, presenting a...

How Community Health Centers Support Transitions Out of Incarceration

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As the healthcare industry continues to eye better transitions of care for patients who are recently incarcerated, community health centers agree they are poised to fill the gap, according to a new...

How a Primary Care-Based Housing Instability Program Cut Outpatient Utilization

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A community health worker-led program to address housing instability was effective at reducing primary care and outpatient care overutilization, proving that addressing the social determinant of health...

HHS Launches 3 Public-Private Partnerships for Food Is Medicine Efforts

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HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra used last week’s Food is Medicine summit to unveil three new public-private partnerships with Instacart, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Feeding America, all with the...

Gender-Affirming Care Access Laws Affect 38% of Trans Youth

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Nearly two-fifths of trans youth ages 13 to 17 live in a state with legal restrictions to gender-affirming care access, which is the result of 23 states enacting such policies, according to a new KFF...

VA Cuts Homelessness, SDOH by 55% with Housing First Model

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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was able to reduce homelessness by 55 percent over a 13-year period, demonstrating the power of integrating social determinants of health interventions into the...