Peer Support SpecialistsPeer specialists are individuals with lived experience of mental health, substance use, trauma, legal involvement, and/or homelessness who are trained to help others engage in the recovery process.Peers have the unique experience of being a service recipient and provider within behavioral health and/or justice settings.Peers develop rapport with people seeking services and contribute invaluable insights to treatment teams based on their personal experience in navigating service systems. Populations ServedPeers may provide services to a variety of people (see Figure 1).Almost all reporting SMHAs (98%) are using mental health peer specialists to serve adults with behavioral health conditions and parents of children/youth with SED.SMHAs less frequently (52%) report utilizing youth peer support specialists.
In Alabama, diabetes is ranked 13th for prominent health indicators impacting the state. Out of an estimated state population of 4.9 million, roughly 568,000 (11.6%) Alabamians are affected by diabetes. Furthermore, 9% of the population has been notified of having prediabetes, with approximately 35,700 new diabetes cases in 2022. The medical costs associated with diabetes continue to rise with a concomitant increase in disease incidence and prevalence. Racial health disparities impact African American/Black individuals with diabetes at disproportionate rates. In Alabama, there is a higher prevalence of diabetes among African Americans. Despite current medical interventions, African Americans remain at increased risk for developing complications of diabetes, specifically vision loss and blindness. Nationally, diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in adults. Vision loss as a complication of diabetes is a growing problem across Alabama as the incidence and prevalence of the disease continue to rise. A staggering 131,000 vision loss cases impact Alabama's health care systems, costing the state an estimated $2.4 million annually. The impact on patients' quality of life is also alarming. In this review, we describe the burden of eye disease due to diabetes in Alabama and examine work being deployed across the state to address managed care barriers to eye health. We highlight the need to focus on health equity by linking community-based advocacy efforts with pharmaceutical industry partners to promote locally based efforts to help reduce the burden of diabetes across the state.
At an Institute for Value-Based Medicine® (IVBM) event cohosted by The American Journal of Managed Care® and Sutter Health, experts illuminated the current state of cardiometabolic health care and offered a glimpse into the future.
Through accountable care organizations, physicians are leveraging data and partnerships to create an efficient, quality-oriented system focused on improving patient outcomes and addressing health disparities.
The percent of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients with less than 60 days between date of first biopsy identifying breast cancer and date of first treatment.(Surgery, systemic therapy)
One physician discusses how greater collaboration and better communication could show promise in addressing the opioid crisis in Alaska.
A health system transformational leadership framework and management system made visible and eliminated defects in value and was associated with reduced annual Medicare expenditures and increased quality between 2017 and 2020.
Clinicians and leaders from Duke University convened in Durham, North Carolina, to discuss unmet needs in the care of patients with diabetes and opportunities to close those gaps through coordination, education, support, and technology.
Diagnosing and treating gestational diabetes can have long-term positive effects on the health of the mother and the baby, warranting a distinct focus on the condition, according to an Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event held in Cleveland, Ohio.
Health care providers and policy experts gathered in New Orleans, Louisiana, to discuss the complex interplay between food insecurity and obesity as well as the expanding toolbox of options to support patients in achieving a healthy weight.
Allowing nurse practitioners to serve as attribution-eligible providers for Medicare Shared Savings Program accountable care organizations leads to no change in hierarchical condition category risk scores and modest growth in attributed beneficiaries.
