Showing papers in "Health progress in 2014"

Doctors from abroad: a cure for the physician shortage in America.

Abstract: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates there were 5,848 “primary medical health professional shortage areas” in the country in 2012 and that “it would take an additional 15,928 physicians to adequately meet the primary care medical needs of people in those areas,” according to cardiologist David J. Skorton, MD, president of Cornell University, in a Feb. 20, 2013 blog entry for the Huffington Post. The changing work habits of younger physicians are another factor. On average, new physicians want to work five fewer hours per week — equivalent to losing about 40,000 more doctors. Also, as the number of physicians continues to decrease, the number of patients will continue to increase, with millions of previously uninsured individuals seeking care under the Affordable Care Act and with Baby Boomers retiring in large numbers. “Currently there are just over 800,000 physicians in the U.S.,” said Jim Stone, president of Medicus Firm, a physician recruiting company based in Dallas. “Of these, about 30 percent are foreign-born or foreign-trained. We simply don’t have enough physicians — foreign doctors are absolutely essential for delivering care in this country.” Because of this shortage, health care systems across the country rely on foreign medical graduates, commonly called FMGs, to help meet physician hiring needs. The top three areas of practice for FMGs are all in primary care — internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics — three practice specialties that are in high demand. “Moreover,” said Francine Kyaw, division director for physician recruitment for Catholic Health Initiatives’ (CHI) Fargo, N.D. operating division in the upper Midwest, “their immigration status and work visas often require them to fill much-needed physician positions in health professional shortage areas or medically underDoctors from Abroad A Cure for the Physician Shortage in America

Palliative care: the biblical roots.

Abstract: Studies show that palliative care can increase quality of life by clarifying the goals of care; reducing intrusive medical interventions; avoiding unnecessary testing; managing pain and other symptoms; attending to spiritual and sacramental needs of the patient, family and caregivers; and increasing patient and family satisfaction; while decreasing unnecessary readmissions and length of stay in the acute care setting.1 This approach to care, if replicated, can significantly decrease the cost of health care in our nation, which resonates with the understanding that our system is too acute-care-centric and must be radically transformed into person-centered care.2 Such care has been shown to transform the patient experience and overall quality of life and, in some cases, actually increase life expectancy.3 Catholic health care is uniquely positioned to provide the kind of person-centered, holistic care that is the promise of palliative care. Palliative care has been called a hallmark of Catholic health care.4 That is, when delivered according to the vision of the Supportive Care Coalition,5palliative care represents the best of what the Catholic faith has believed and emphasized throughout the centuries about who we are as human beings, about our relationship with God and each other, about our destiny, about the meaning and purpose of the Catholic healing ministry. Palliative care also reflects our understanding that it is a matter of our vocation and of the church's teaching to reach out to and care for the sick, the poor, the marginalized, the vulnerable and the dying because we recognize in them both the face of God and our sisters and brothers in Christ.

The sounds of Project ECHO.

Abstract: became a primary resource for ministry formation for Holy Redeemer Health System in Meadowbrook, Pa. To date, more than 120 of Holy Redeemer’s leaders have joined Bon Secours leaders in ministry formation. The Center for Ministry Leadership’s fourlevel formation pathway progresses from the provision of basic resources for participation in the ministry (Level I); to the experience of building a community that will influence and be influenced in the ministry (Level II); to selecting courses and meaningful experiences that will strengthen one’s ability to lead in a particular area (Level III); and finally, to an experience of participating in the greater work of transformation, individually and collectively, in co-creating a more humane world (Level IV). The goal, according to the center’s philosophy statement, is to “empower competent and confident ministry leaders for our communities” by means of what the center calls reflective integration, its ultimate learning objective. All programs contain these components: theological content, practical leadership tools, spiritual practices, theological reflection, silence and solitude and intersession activity. Some programs are content and skills focused (competence), while others are process and reflection focused (confidence).

U.S Catholic institutions: are they living up to their history and promise as immigrant integration agencies?

Abstract: orty million immigrants (foreign-born) reside in the United States, including more than 21 million from Latin America and 11 million from Asia.1 Hispanics represent 35 percent of U.S. Catholics and accounted for 40 percent of newly registered parishioners from 2005 to 2010.2 As these numbers indicate, the vitality and success of the nation and the Catholic Church increasingly will turn on the contributions of newcomers. F

Human trafficking: why Catholic health care commits to the fight.

Abstract: Those of us who conduct educational seminars and speak at national programs about human trafficking frequently are asked, "Why should we care?" "Why would Catholic health care become involved?" and, in the context of immigration, "What is the relationship between immigration and trafficking?" These are the right questions, and now is the right time to lay out the answers, in the hope that others in the health care ministry will recognize the need and opt to develop their own strategies to combat human trafficking. ENORMITY OF THE PROBLEM In his letter welcoming readers to the U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, Luis CdeBaca, ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, writes, "Because reporting is uneven, we can't say for certain how many victims of trafficking are identified each year. This Report estimates that, based on the information governments have provided, only around 40,000 victims have been identified in the last year. In contrast, social scientists estimate that as many as 27 million men, women, and children are trafficking victims at any given time."1 Those numbers alone should be persuasive enough for us to realize that we must care. There are other numbers that underscore the enormity of the problem, such as these from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2012.2 -Revenues generated annually by human trafficking are in excess of $32 billion, on the verge of surpassing the drug trade as the most lucrative organized crime in the world -At least 136 nationalities were trafficked, with victims found in at least 118 countries -75 percent of trafficking victims are female of all ages -27 percent of trafficking victims are children -Trafficking for sexual exploitation represents 58 percent of victims -Trafficking for forced labor exploitation represents 26 percent of victims ROLE OF RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS Certainly, the history of so many of the founding congregations of Catholic health ministry in the U.S. has set a precedent for the work against trafficking. It is not a coincidence that so much of the exemplary work done to date around the globe has been done by congregations of religious women. In the U.S., Catholic health care has a wonderful and courageous legacy, beginning with the 1727 journey of the Ursuline sisters from France to New Orleans to care for those afflicted by cholera. A hallmark of the religious congregations has been one of courage, a "rage of the heart," a willingness to traverse new horizons, to respond to and serve human need and to uphold the value and dignity of each human person. Available: https://www.chausa.org/docs/default-source/health-progress/human-trafficking--why-catholic-health-care-commits-to-the-fight.pdf?sfvrsn=4 Language: en

Engaging physician leaders for improved outcomes.

Abstract: elivery of health care services to patients is facing extreme levels of change and challenge, ushered in not just by the Affordable Care Act, but also by demands from insurers, payers and employers for improved approaches. At Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, La., the goal of our quality improvement efforts is — as always — to improve patient care. But we also want to better position ourselves for more rapid success in any of the new models such as clinical networks, coordinated care, accountable care organizations and medical homes. D