New & NoteworthySpotlight on Kansas City The Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium (KCQIC) is putting consumer engagement front-and-center in their Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) work. Recently, they restructured the way they engage consumers by forming a Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) to advise the KCQIC Board of Directors on how to improve health care quality with patient-centered strategies. The CAB is a multi-stakeholder group committed to helping consumers and patients understand how to get the best possible health care. The CAB consists of consumers and consumer advocates, providers and physicians. Consumers and patients are represented by the AARP Kansas City, United Auto Workers (UAW) Ford, Northland Diversity Council, State Department of Aging, North Kansas City School District-School Social Work, YWCA, Our Health Matters Publication, and others. The creation of the CAB ensures that consumers and patients are meaningfully engaged in the Kansas City Alliance. Johnny Simpson, a CAB member, highlighted the goals for the group including improving the website to make it more consumer-friendly and inspiring involvement by allowing it to reflect the diversity of the community. The CAB members also promote health literacy by minimizing medical jargon and linking to other sources that explain various illnesses and treatment options. According to Simpson, "in the future we want to have a health care system that’s supportive of patients sharing in the responsibility of their own health and health care. This includes developing additional information such as check points for when and how patients encounter the health care system. This will lead to positive outcomes for everyone."The Kansas City Alliance's newly redesigned website www.QualityHealthTogether.org is a testament to the CAB’s efforts. It profiles more than 270 primary care clinics in five counties in the bi-state area, rating them based on the management of several common chronic conditions (for example diabetes, asthma, depression) and how consumers can use performance data to make more informed health care decisions. Physicians can use the data to determine how their practice is performing in comparison with their peers. Hospital data is available as well. CAB will continue to work with KCQIC to roll out effective strategies to promote the website and publicly report to segmented audiences within Kansas City. For more information about the Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium, click here » |
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