Access to Care

Top Language, Care Access Barriers for Spanish-Speaking Patients

by Sara Heath

Patients with limited to no English language proficiency face all the same care access barriers their English-speaking counterparts do, but they must also contend with the added layer of language...

Making the Case for Expanded Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice

by Sara Heath

Expanding nurse practitioner scope of practice is the first step to empowering advanced practice providers (APPs) in leading patient care and ultimately addressing gaps in patient access to care,...

What Patient Demographics Use Patient Portal Appointment Scheduling?

by Sara Heath

Young, White patients with commercial health payer coverage are more likely to use the patient portal for online appointment scheduling than others, according to the latest data in JAMA Network...

“First Do No Harm:” Combatting Black Maternal Health Disparities

by Sara Heath

“First do no harm.” That is the basis of all US medicine, and yet for certain populations, it’s not always true. Case in point: Black maternal health disparities. Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native mothers are two-...

GA Scope of Practice Bill Sparks Debate About APRNs

by Sara Heath

The American Medical Association and the Medical Association of Georgia (MAG) are speaking out against proposed state legislation that would expand scope of practice for advanced practice registered...

How Does Medication Synchronization Support Medication Adherence?

by Sara Heath

Medication adherence is a billion-dollar problem in the United States, stemming in large part from challenges to medication management. Leading the charge in overcoming the problem is medication...

Understanding Barriers, Gaps in Women’s Primary Care Quality

by Sara Heath

Improving primary care access and quality for women will require an allover approach to providing sex-specific, sex-aware, and gender-sensitive care that is coordinated across a woman’s lifetime,...

The Difference Between Community Health, Community-Based Health

by Sara Heath

As value-based care and outcomes-based reimbursement increasingly become a reality in healthcare, medical professionals have leaned on key strategies to prevent acute healthcare episodes and boost the...

How Coronavirus Sparked Industry Collaboration, Team-Based Care

by Sara Heath

Healthcare is facing a never-before-seen global health crisis with the coronavirus outbreak, with infection rates on a meteoric rise. But at the same time, healthcare is seeing something else that’s unprecedented: a massive...

How Rurality, Social Determinants of Health Affect Care Access

by Sara Heath

Having an address in a rural area could mean a patient needs more than just better access to care. According to new research out of the Mayo Clinic, it could also mean that patient experiences the...

Travel Times Still a Challenge for Rural Health, Access Disparities

by Sara Heath

Women with breast cancer living in rural areas can travel up to 2,000 miles over the course of their treatment, according to research out of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health,...

Preventive Care Access, Health Disparities Require Second Look

by Sara Heath

The medical industry needs a concerted push toward more and better research regarding the relationship between the social determinants of health, health disparities, and patient access to preventive...

How Income Inequality Affects Health Equity, Patient Experiences

by Sara Heath

Nearly half of lower- and middle-income adults struggle to pay their dental and healthcare bills, underscoring latent issues with health equity in this country, according to a report from the Robert...

Does Hospital Religious Affiliation Impact Patient Access to Care?

by Sara Heath

Although religious affiliation is not a consideration during patient access to care, most patients agree their preferences should take precedence over a healthcare organization’s religious or...

Who Are the Key Players in Social Determinants of Health Strategy?

by Sara Heath

The healthcare industry has come to a consensus that the social determinants of health and population health are essential considerations for delivering on value-based care. But it takes a village, as...

How Food Security Programs Target Social Determinants of Health

by Sara Heath

You are what you eat, the old adage says, but what comes of patients who live in food deserts or who otherwise struggle to access food? New strategies to tackle the social determinants of health are...

How Mobile Health Clinics Drive Care to Vulnerable Patients

by Sara Heath

In Oregon, patients are queuing to visit with nurse practitioners to get their annual wellness checks, ask about a lingering earache, or receive routine dental care. But these patients aren’t waiting in line at a make-shift...

Key Barriers Limiting Patient Access to Mental Healthcare

by Sara Heath

Patients all across the country experience some sort of mental health issue every day. But instead of visiting the doctor like they might for a sprained ankle or chest pains, these individuals face...

Should Clinical Trials Account for Social Determinants of Health?

by Sara Heath

New data out of the Yale School of Medicine suggests that the social determinants of health may have an impact on clinical trial results, revealing that patients receiving their care in low-income...

Why Technology is Essential to Community Health Partnerships, SDOH

by Sara Heath

With the industry’s growing awareness that the social determinants of health have a considerable impact on patient health, more organizations are leaning on community health partnerships to...