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Health
Disparities Collaborative |
The Health Disparities Collaboratives
The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) is responsible for funding programs to expand access to high quality, culturally and linguistically competent primary and preventive care for underserved, uninsured, and underinsured Americans.
The Health Disparities Collaboratives (HDC) is one such program developed to change primary health care practices in order to improve the health care provided to everyone and to eliminate health disparities. One Primary Care Association in each of the five clusters around the United States was funded to work with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to develop the infrastructure to support the Health Disparities Collaboratives. During the fall of 1998, BPHC selected 88 health centers to participate in the BPHC Health Disparities Collaboratives which focused on Diabetes. Since that time, collaboratives in Asthma, Depression, Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer have all materialized.
The Health Disparities Collaboratives strive to achieve excellence in practice through:
- Generating and documenting improved health outcomes for underserved populations;
- Changing clinical practice through models of care, improvement and learning;
- Developing infrastructure, expertise and multi-disciplinary leadership to support and drive improved health status; and
- Building strategic partnerships.
The Kentucky Primary Care Association supports the efforts of the Health Disparities Collaborative. The cluster coordinator works closely with the Southeast HDC Cluster Director to accomplish the goals discussed above. The cluster coordinator will coach teams for the Health Disparities Collaboratives through site visits as needed, participating in various conference calls with teams and other cluster staff, providing feedback on monthly team reports, identifying resources/tools for teams and many more activities.
Currently, Kentucky has ten (10) community health centers participating in the Health Disparities Collaboratives. Two (2) Kentucky teams were selected to participate in the 2003-2004 year of the Health Disparities Collaboratives. Collaboratives for the upcoming year are being offered in Diabetes and Depression. Community health centers will receive notification of acceptance in early October.
The positive results of community health centers participating in the Health Disparities Collaboratives are being seen throughout the southeast region.
For more information regarding the Health Disparities Collaboratives please visit the national website at:
www.healthdisparities.net or call the KPCA Health Disparities Collaboratives Coordinator, Brenda Wheatley at (502)
227-4379. She is the Coordinator for Kentucky and Tennessee.
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