Schwimmer Script Blog
Health Care Community Must Have A Greater Role In Medical Marijuana Policy
Medical marijuana is a multi-faceted issue. It’s now legal for a range of medical conditions under the recently expanded New Jersey state law, but continues to be illegal under federal law. Health care facilities are unsure what to do when, say, a cancer patient, clearly benefiting from using marijuana at home, is admitted. Can they…Read More…
How to Advance an Unbiased Approach to Care
Today, I am turning this space over to Kate Shamszad, MS, MPH, who is a Senior Program Officer at the Quality Institute’s Medicaid Policy Center. Kate led a workshop yesterday at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital on Reflective Supervision, which is a way for clinicians to examine their own biases and improve care for patients….Read More…
We Need More Information on Surgical Safety in Outpatient Departments, Ambulatory Centers
Add your voice to the conversation and share your comments about this topics on NJSpotlight.com. New survey is a good start toward helping consumers determine which facilities are most committed to safety and quality. At the Quality Institute, we have long called for greater transparency on quality at outpatient surgery settings, including hospital outpatient departments…Read More…
Any Opioid Settlements Should Be Handled Better Than Those N.J. Got from Big Tobacco
Please consider commenting and adding your voice to the conversation on NJ.com. As New Jersey and other states consider settlements with Purdue Pharma and other pharmaceutical companies for their aggressive and misleading marketing of opioids, how our state handled another crisis provides a cautionary tale — one that we ignore at our own peril. Just…Read More…
At the Quality Institute, Change and New Opportunities Ahead
As summer days give way to the renewed energy of fall, I am excited to share some changes here at the Quality Institute, as well as many new opportunities for our members and partners to work with us between now and the end of the year. First, Shereef Elnahal, M.D., M.B.A., has joined our board….Read More…
Momentum to Help New Moms and Babies Must Continue
There’s long been talk about the need to improve outcomes for New Jersey mothers and their babies. Now we’re seeing that talk turn into action. In the past 20 months, new laws and initiatives have advanced to improve maternal-child health, and to address troubling racial inequities. Here are just some of the new laws: Medicaid…Read More…
Is ‘Medicare for All’ The New ‘Repeal and Replace’?
After the 2016 election, I wrote a blog cautioning then President-Elect Trump and the Incoming Congress not to rush to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. I urged our nation’s elected leaders to proceed in a thoughtful way that reflected the trust the electorate had placed in them. I argued that they should work…Read More…
Legacy Take Five Interviews Highlight Health Leaders’ Vision for Tomorrow’s Health System
Our Take Five interviews share insight from health care leaders making a difference in the state and the nation. Take Five is one of the most popular features of our newsletter and explores topics critical to our mission to improve the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for everyone. Recently we’ve run what…Read More…
Quality Institute Outlines Five Key Principles For Price Transparency to Succeed
Only in health care do Americans routinely purchase services and then learn about the price weeks or months later. For too many Americans, opening a medical bill is a moment of trepidation. At the Quality Institute, we’ve supported transparency from our earliest days — in quality and in cost. So we support the parts…Read More…
Tackling Racial Bias in Health Care
We titled our Spring All Council Conference last week, “Racial Bias in Health Care: A Diagnosis and Treatment Plan.” Our audience — indeed, all of us in the room — did not always find the topic easy. No one who went into health care to help others wants to learn that their own biases could…Read More…