All Articles on Health

• At age 20, MacColl Center helps the nation scale up for health reform

  The Advanced Primary Care Demonstration Project is helping 500 federally qualified health centers across the U.S. become “level 3 patient-centered medical homes”—in preparation for the uninsured Americans who will seek care in these “safety net” clinics.
• Pneumococcal vaccine being tested in older adults

  Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH, is leading a study of pneumococcal vaccine in older adults at six Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs) across the nation, including at Group Health. Dr. Jackson, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute, leads the Seattle-area VTEU. Dr. Jackson and her colleagues plan to see if a higher dose of a pneumococcal vaccine will create a stronger immune response in older adults who received an earlier-generation vaccine against pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases.
• Patients feel more control of their health when doctors share notes

  Patients with access to notes written by their doctors feel more in control of their care and report a better understanding of their medical issues, improved recall of their care plan, and being more likely to take their medications as prescribed, a study published in the Oct. 2 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine has found.
• The patient's role in surgery choices: More engagement, better care

  By providing care in a way that is more patient centered, Group Health is also demonstrating one way the nation might address an epidemic of overtreatment and medical harm—and its related suffering.
• Introducing decision aids may lower surgery for arthritis

  After Group Health Cooperative introduced video-based “decision aids” for people with knee and hip arthritis, rates of knee and hip replacement surgeries dropped sharply: by 38 and 26 percent, respectively, over six months. The cost of caring for those patients also declined: by 12 percent to 21 percent, according to an article in the September Health Affairs.
• Obesity research: Creating healthier families and neighborhoods

  Obesity-related illnesses cost more than $190 billion annually. Interventions that introduce healthy behaviors in one family might have a ripple effect, spreading through networks and possibly reducing health care costs.
• A ‘learning health system’ moves from idea to action

  In the United States, clinicians are struggling to provide better and more affordable health care to more people—while keeping up with new scientific developments. The idea of a “learning health system” is one proposed solution for rapidly applying the best available scientific evidence in real-time clinical practice. In the August 7 Annals of Internal Medicine, a Group Health Cooperative team describes the experience of turning this intriguing concept into action.