This research session by Robert Morrow of the Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, at the SACME fall meeting was one of the best case studies I ve seen yet on how to do an intervention that works. I can t begin to go into just how great the multimedia approach they used to get community health centers in the New York area to increase their use of best practices in asthma management. Maybe he ll let me write an article for the magazine on it you need to see some of the graphics. Anyway, it included patient simulations (the doctor and patient both looked and sounded the way docs and patients in participants real-life do), then small-group discussion, then a post-case similar to the first to test for changes.
The results (and I wish I had the data if you re a member, go to SACME s Web site to review the PowerPoint but the results showed an improvement in the post over the pre-test, and data from the insurance companies showed that patients decreased hospitalizations and emergency department visits. Quarterly costs for the patients also dropped dramatically.
It was a model program in every way. Again, the 10-minute limit on discussion really just let us skim the surface of all that went into it, but it was slick. And, more importantly, the outcomes showed that it worked on all levels.
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