Hilary Hatch, Ph.D.’s Post

We at Phreesia applaud the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' commitment to elevating the patient voice in healthcare: CMS released the proposed Physician Fee Schedule yesterday, and the Gains in Patient Activation Measure (PAM) Scores at 12 Months performance measure is proposed in the following new MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs) for 2025 – Ophthalmology, Dermatology , Gastroenterology, Urology, and Pulmonology. PAM was already included in 2024 in 18 MIPS specialty sets and 5 MVPS. It is a privilege to support care teams in helping every patient learn to self-manage their health, and attain the best possible outcomes. The proposed rule is here: https://lnkd.in/dHajVFYW

I really enjoyed this Q&A with Micky Tripathi of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) that lays out a clear vision for how #artificialintelligence will help solve some of our healthcare challenges in the years to come. When providers are overburdened and decision fatigue sets in, leaning into innovation is critical to meeting patient needs.   “AI-enabled tools are being used, but to help to augment physician decision making, not to replace physician decision-making, which I think is what all of us want. We expect that our doctors are going to use the best possible tools available to them to give us the best possible care.”   Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gBnz_a3s 

We already know that social drivers of health play a critical role in preventing and managing chronic disease, but in a recent JAMA Network Open study, researchers found that these are associated with higher prevalence of prediabetes in adolescents independent of race and ethnicity.    If we screen for and address issues like food insecurity, lack of private health insurance, and lower household income, we "may ultimately reduce the risks associated with youth-onset T2D via prevention as well as early identification and treatment."   Read the paper here: https://lnkd.in/edytCgCw 

It was wonderful to share our research at AcademyHealth on how we can help prevent and delay the progression of kidney disease by supporting every patient to be an active participant in their care.   Our study, published in AJMC - The American Journal of Managed Care was a great collaboration between Phreesia colleagues and National Kidney Foundation. Here's my fantastic colleague Shanoor Seervai presenting our poster at #ARM2024. Read the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/efnPxzYJ

Attending AcademyHealth #ARM2024? Are you interested in patient activation, or have you used it in your research or clinical practice?   Join me and the Phreesia team for a reception to to learn more about patient activation and collaborate on opportunities for research and clinical practice.   Phreesia is the measure steward of the Patient Activation Measure, which has been used in over 800 studies around the world to demonstrate the value of activation.   Find us at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor (Poe Room, 2nd Floor) on Monday, July 1st, 2024 from 6:30-8:30 PM. Drinks and small bites will be provided! https://lnkd.in/et38e2Ak

Years after the National Kidney Foundation and American Society of Nephrology recommended switching to race-free equations for testing kidney function, patients like Jazmin Evans are finally seeing the benefits.    Jazmin waited four long years before she was deemed eligible under the new guidelines. She's not alone – thousands of other Black patients have suffered due to biased algorithms that overestimated their kidney function, delaying critical transplants.    Given that new treatments are available to prevent CKD or delay its progression, we must keep working to eliminate racial biases from clinical algorithms to ensure fair and accurate diagnoses. These lead to missed or undertreated diagnoses, not only for CKD but also for heart disease and lung function.    https://lnkd.in/e_KQmAzj 

The American Cancer Society is launching a long-term population study to examine factors driving cancer prevalence and deaths among Black women. For example, Black women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with stomach cancer than white women, and more than twice as likely to die of it. They are also 40 percent more likely to die of breast cancer.   This kind of research to understand disparities is more critical than ever, now that we have new prevention guidelines to diagnose cancer earlier, and new treatments to improve the lives of patients.    We need to communicate better with all patients about screenings they need and treatments that would improve health outcomes. Delivering personalized, relevant messages to patients at the point of care, as Phreesia does, is a key step in the right direction. https://lnkd.in/e9KFpHH2

As healthcare organizations increasingly collect data on #SDOH, one crucial recommendation from the Electronic Health Record Association stands out: standardizing how we capture a person’s social-risk domain.   But we need input from providers, EHR developers, policymakers, and patients before we transition to standardizing social-risk screener. As Kate Jenkins-Brown, Ed.D. of MEDITECH aptly points out: We need to learn more from the provider community in order to simplify and scale SDOH standards.    We also need to ensure this reflects the patient's perspective. Centering the patient voice in care is key to what we do here at Phreesia.    What do you think about the path forward for SDOH?    https://lnkd.in/e6VPZrcj