Photo Friday: Hand rail

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Even hand rails need to keep warm when it's this cold!

A glove warms the hand rail at the Orleans County Superior Courthouse in Newport, Vt., shot February 18, 2014. The U.S. Courthouse is in the background.

A glove warms the hand rail at the Orleans County Superior Courthouse in Newport, Vt., shot February 18, 2014. The U.S. Courthouse is in the background.

Vermont gets real to answer real health care questions

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It seems everyone has a question about the new health care law.

Natalie and Nathan have some answers.

The married couple are the faces of health care reform in Vermont, answering loads of questions that were submitted to Vermont Health Connect through YouTube videos and TV spots.

The videos are available at Vermont Health Connect's website and are running on local TV throughout the state as 30-second TV spots. The website also links to a broader Frequently Asked Questions page that goes more in-depth on many issues.

Here at Vermont Health Connect, we've received a number of questions from Vermonters about their new health coverage options. That's where Nathan and Natalie come in. They'll be answering your questions. This one comes from Anne: "I'm worried I can't afford health coverage. Is there help available?" Watch the video for the answer!

And who are Natalie and Nathan? They are previously uninsured small business owners, who teach comedy and theater. They grew up in the Northeast Kingdom and now live in Burlington.

The videos work. They're genuine and have a sincerity to them that is pure Vermont.

Here at Vermont Health Connect, we've received a number of questions from Vermonters about their new health coverage options. That's where Natalie and Nathan come in. They'll be answering your questions to make sure you have the information you need to get started. So who are Natalie and Nathan?


How it's done (queue up the video)

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How did they do that?

We all want to know how something gets done. Video is a great way to bring people inside a world they will never experience firsthand.

Here are three examples, including one in health care where our patients could definitely benefit from understanding what we do — and why.

1. Olympic Luge.

Luge (and its even crazier cousin skeleton) is one of those sports that gets its shining moment every four years. What's it like to barrel down the Sochi Olympic luge course at 80 mph?

A minute in my life. Point of view video from the track in Sochi, Russia.

 

2. Formula 1 Pit Stop.

If you've ever changed a tire or your oil, you know how long and frustrating it can be. The Ferrari Formula 1 pit crew can do it — and a dozen other adjustments — in just 2 seconds.

2013 Melbourne F1, poetry in motion.

Source: Kottle.org 

 

3. Health Care Medical Laboratory.

We take blood and tissue samples from patients every day, but what happens to them? What are they looking for? This is a great video from Bowling Green State University in Ohio from Nick Corbin Productions.

Bowling Green State University Medical Laboratory Science students submission for the 2013 ASCLS viral video contest. Song: Evgeny Grinko - Winter Sunshine. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 2.0 Germany License.




Patient engagement must begin with plain language

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Hardwire. Analytics. Evidence. Patterns. Models of care.

These terms all mean something to health care and IT professionals. 

They mean nothing to patients.

This vocabulary divide was highlighted in a recent interview with David Muntz, System Vice President & CIO at GetWellNetwork, on the HIMSS website ("Ask the Expert: Patient Engagement - The 'New' End Game," December 23, 2013):

Q: Why is Patient Engagement so critical to the overall success of health reform?

A: The role of the patient and family has become increasingly important. We can successfully install the new EHRs and associated products, but without true patient engagement, without a new effective partner relationship, we as individuals and as a nation will not get the complete potential value available to us. Patients must become activated. The best way to do that in both the existing and evolving models of care is to use information technology to hardwire processes and to perform analytics which will be crucial to affirming existing evidence as well as discovering patterns that we didn’t see without the new tools. 

Muntz's ideas are right on. And while he's speaking to IT folks, who understand the terms and syntax, the choice of words excludes patients and families at a time when their role, as Muntz notes, "has become increasingly important."

Let's deconstruct the last two sentences, which are the most important.

From Muntz:

Patients must become activated. The best way to do that in both the existing and evolving models of care is to use information technology to hardwire processes and to perform analytics which will be crucial to affirming existing evidence as well as discovering patterns that we didn’t see without the new tools. 

And now present it in a way patients and families can understand:

We want patients to become partners in their care. The best way to do that — right now and in the future — is to help them get comfortable with technology and make it an important and easy part of their daily lives. When we do that, together, both patients and providers will be able to see what is truly happening with a patient's health and take steps to improve it. 

Patient engagement starts by talking the same language. We have to speak in terms our patients and their families can understand — and we can accomplish that by dropping the jargon and biz-speak and getting back to plain language that everyone can understand — with no translation required.

Source: HIMSS

This post originally appeared on EngagingPatients.org, a blog dedicated to advancing patient and family-centered care. I am a member of the Engaging Patients Advisory Board and write for the blog.