Sonoma Health Access Coalition (SHAC): March 6: Investing in Health InformationTechnology to Improve Public Health

Kwame Kitson, MD

Vice President of Quality Improvement
Institute for Family Health

Thursday, March 6, 2008
6:00- 8:00 PM
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
3033 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa

Dr. Kitson will join SHAC for a dialogue about investing in health information technology exchange to improve the health of our community. Dr. Kitson is best known for his work on developing innovative strategies to treat and prevent AIDS/HIV, and for using technology to reduce health disparities. He will share how New York City physicians and other health providers are using technology to monitor and improve the health of their community.

Widespread electronic health record (EHR) adoption throughout Sonoma County and beyond carries with it the potential for significant health improvement beyond the immediate benefits to local practices or individual patients. This forum will provide us with an opportunity to come together to talk about how we can work together to improve the health of our community.

Dr. Kitson is a graduate of Howard University College of Medicine and completed his family practice residency in social medicine at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York. He has worked on various quality improvement initiatives, including one that explores how electronic medical records can help eliminate racial disparities in health outcomes.

The program is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to Pedro Toledo, RCHC Director of Community and Government Relations at ptoledo@rchc.net.

PAST EVENTS

The Future of Primary Care in Sonoma County: A New Model
(January 10, 2008)

Richard G. Roberts, M.D., J.D.
Professor of Family Medicine
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health

Dr. Richard Roberts shared innovative models of care and methods of advocacy used to advance primary care. Dr. Roberts is the past President of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and President Elect for the World Organization of Family Physicians.

Download Dr. Robert's presentation from this session: Curing What Ails Healthcare (PPT)

Session IV of the Summer of Learning Series
(October 30, 2007)

Eleanor Littman, RN, Executive Director of the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County (HIP) , and Larry deGhetaldi, MD, CEO of Sutter Santa Cruz, shared how their coalition of public and private health care stakeholders have improved access to health care in their community. HIP provides a common voice for the community and serves as an incubator of effective solutions.

HIP's accomplishments include:

Reducing inappropriate use of the emergency room by as much as 54% through intensive case management of safety net clients;
Developing a county-wide diabetes registry to better manage the care and prevention of the disease;
Improving access to specialists for low-income, uninsured patients by building partnerships within the physician community.

Session III of the "Summer of Learning” Series
(October 9, 2007)

Why Our Health Delivery System Is Not Set Up To Provide Quality Primary/Preventive Care, presented by Dr. Thomas Bodenheimer, Professor of Family and Community Medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Bodenheimer is one of the country’s foremost experts in primary care design. He demonstrated how the current primary care delivery model translates into higher healthcare costs and also discussed what Sonoma County needs to know to help improve the quality of the healthcare in our local communities.

Download Video [WMV]
File size: 95MB

Play length: Approx 95 min.
Windows Media Player required.

Download Dr. Bodenheimer's presentation from this session: Why primary care is broken and some ideas how to fix it (PPT).

Session II of the “Summer of Learning” Series
(July 11, 2007)

Leaders of the Community Health Alliance of Humboldt-Del Norte, Alan Glaseroff, MD and Allan Katz, shared the story of how private sector physicians in Humboldt and Mendocino counties have come together with community clinics, government agencies, private hospitals, and consumers to improve health in their communities.

Download Dr. Glaseroff's presentation from this session: Beyond Silos: A Regional Approach to Health Care Systems (PPT).

Session I of the “Summer of Learning” Series
(June 4, 2007)

Ronda Kotelchuck, the Executive Director of the Primary Care Development Corporation in New York City shared how her organization established a capital access program that has directed $178 million into the construction, expansion, and renovation of 60 primary care centers in New York City that provide care for more than 400,000 patients every year.

Download Video [WMV]

File size: 99MB (approx)

Windows media player required.

March 6: Investing in Health Information
Technology to Improve Public Health

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