Health inequity and barriers can negatively affect patient care. Case managers can work with community organizations to untangle this societal problem.
Case managers in hospitals and community settings often have to go beyond point of care activities to help patients make significant improvements in their health and healthcare costs. This is particularly true with patient populations experiencing major barriers to maintaining disease control and health improvement, including housing, food access, transportation.
An initiative that began five years ago in San Francisco has resulted in a dramatic reduction of new HIV diagnoses in the region. In the first half of 2018, there were just 81 new HIV diagnoses, according to the latest data. Further, investigators report that the number of deaths attributable to HIV has declined by more than 50%. The city’s success in addressing the HIV epidemic is largely attributable to the collective efforts of Getting to Zero San Francisco, a multisector consortium that aims to reduce HIV infections, deaths, and stigma to meet aggressive 90-90-90 goals,
Data visualization is increasingly important in the communication of quality improvement data, and nearly everyone in the field uses it to some extent. But effective use of data visualization with graphics, dashboards, and other tools requires an understanding of why this approach works and how to optimize its effect.
