The latest episode of On the Evidence focuses on a national initiative aimed at identifying and addressing non-medical factors that affect a person’s health. Doctors, nurses, and other health care providers can use a screening tool, such as a questionnaire, to uncover a patient’s health-related social needs, such as housing instability or food insecurity. Providers can then refer patients in need to community-based organizations with the resources and expertise to help.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed one such screening tool as well as a guide to assist providers who use the tool. The guide was created for the Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Model, a program that includes 28 organizations across the country.

Read more

LANSING, Mich. – As part of National Public Health Week, nine individuals and organizations will be presented with the 2021 Hometown Health Hero and Jean Chabut Health Policy Champion awards for their contributions to protecting and improving the health of Michigan. 2020 recipients are also included below. Hometown Health Hero awards are presented every spring as part of Michigan Public Health Week. By building connections, our communities become healthier, safer, and better for all.
“It’s an honor to award these selfless individuals and organizations whose efforts make Michigan a better place for many segments of our population,” said MDHHS director Elizabeth Hertel. “The Hometown Health Hero awards are a way we can recognize how both small and large efforts make a positive impact on our state.”
2021 Hometown Health Hero Recipients:

Read more

Over the past year, the United States has witnessed tremendous health inequities from COVID-19 across populations defined by race, ethnicity, geography, and disability. As part of the pandemic response and recovery, communities have taken advantage of existing multisector partnerships to address individual and community-level health and social needs. Indeed, in the recently released National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness, the Biden administration commits to:

Read more

Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, many in Michigan are asking what a post-COVID world will look like. COVID-19 has exacerbated many of the existing challenges within our healthcare system, including disparities in access to health coverage, high costs of care and medicine, inequitable outcomes, and more. As of this writing, over 475,000 Americans have died as a result of COVID-19. The American healthcare system is moving towards a value-based payment model, one in which quality of care and better health outcomes are incentivized. Our current system pays for the cost of delivering care regardless of outcome, spending an estimated $11,000 per person, compared to the $5,400 average per person in peer countries. The United States spends more on health care than almost every other developed nation in the world, yet we do not see improved health outcomes.

Read more

The Kent County board of commissioners approved nearly $2.6 million in funding for the Ready by Five Early Childhood millage to provide continued services for families in the county.

The funds were approved after a Resident Proposal Review Committee, comprised of parents and community members, reviewed proposals and made recommendations to the First Steps Kent Board of Commissioners.

Read more