New Issue Focuses on

Improving Care for Frontier Populations

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announces the May 22 issue of the Health Care Innovations Exchange (http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov).

The featured Innovations describe three programs that used innovative approaches to overcome barriers to health care access in frontier settings. One program used dental health aides to provide routine dental care, another implemented an innovative policy that extended hours for patients who need round-the-clock care in remote settings, and a third used electronic health records to bring preventive care services to isolated villages.
The featured QualityTools include a toolkit to help small and critical-care hospitals plan for and implement telehealth, health information exchanges, and personal health records; a tool to help rural facilities assess the status of their paramedicine program; and a rural resource center with more than 2,500 links to such topics as dental and emergency medical services, insurance and managed care, mental health, and substance abuse.
To access more innovation profiles and tools related to rural health care on the Innovations Exchange Web site, go to http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/innovations_qualitytools.aspx?categoryID=54551&taxonomyID=28322; to read more profiles and tools related to telemedicine, go to http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/innovations_qualitytools.aspx?categoryID=54553&taxonomyID=29850.

Spotlight:

New Innovations Exchange Video SeriesAHRQ announces a new video series, Healthcare Policy Innovations: Changing Care, Improving Health (http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/videos.aspx?tabID=7), which highlights policy innovations that led to more efficient follow-up care for patients discharged from the hospital, enhanced access to care for low-income patients, and improved health for children with asthma.
New PerspectiveTelehealth Improves Access and Quality of Care for Alaska Nativeshttp://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=3932Stewart Ferguson, PhD, Chief Information Officer for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Care Consortium and John Kokesh, MD, Medical Director of the Department of Otolaryngology at the Alaska Native Medical Center

Events and Podcasts:

Upcoming TweetChat
Join us on Twitter Tuesday, June 18, at noon ET for a live TweetChat with Dr. Rebecca Weintraub Brendel of the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program and Dr. Benjamin Miller of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. We will discuss how the Boston Red Sox Foundation has teamed with Massachusetts General Hospital to support veterans with PTSD and their families (http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=3335). Use the #AHRQIX hashtag to participate in the conversation. For more information, visit the Event page (http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/webevents/index.aspx?id=54).
Upcoming Web Event
Join the Innovations Exchange for the last Web event in our new series designed to share experiences and lessons learned in putting accountable care organization and patient-centered medical home principles into practice. Registration is required.
Wednesday, June 5, 1 – 2 pm ETBuilding Health Information Exchanges To Support Accountable Care Organizations and Medical Homes: Delaware's Experience
For more information and to register, visithttp://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/webevents/index.aspx?id=53.
Thank you for joining us May 9 for the Web event A Close Look at Care Coordination Within Patient-Centered Medical Homes: West Virginia's Experience. Event materials are now available on the Event page:http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/webevents/index.aspx?id=52.

Use the My Innovations feature http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/accounts/createAccount.aspx to save your favorite subjects and receive e-mail alerts when new content is published within your areas of interest.
New issues of the Innovations Exchange are published biweekly on Wednesdays. Please contact us at info@innovations.ahrq.gov with any questions or comments.
Follow the Innovations Exchange (AHRQIX) on Twitter with this hyperlink: http://www.twitter.com/ahrqix