In Iowa, Accountable Care Begins To Make A Difference

Over 50 percent of Wisconsin counties lack mental health professionals to serve the populations, and the shortage directly affects children’s mental health. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has submitted funds to a clinic in Ashwaubenon to integrate mental health counselors into primary care work. The effort is nationwide and has shown to be effective in identifying early signs of anxiety and depression beyond patients’ awareness so that counseling is accessible and treatment can be administered.

Hospitals in New York improve healthcare quality and reduce medical costs by staying in frequent contact with patients requiring frequent or long-term care. Montefiore's Accountable Care Organization pulls in care providers from across the medical and social spectrum to improve patient health while curbing expenses.

Crider Health Center was having trouble coordinating the communication between psychiatry and primary care physicians. In 2012, under the Affordable Care Act, Crider and dozens of other mental health centers in the state of Missouri, received federal funds to pilot “integrated care” for Medicaid recipients as part of the new public policy. The funds have enabled social service agencies to work together with hospitals and mental health centers so that patients receive cost-saving, comprehensive care.

The highest hospital costs come from preventable emergency room visits. A doctor in Camden developed a home visit program which gives better and cheaper care.

Some medical professionals and companies like Genemarkers are using pharmacogenomic testing (PGx) to test a patient’s genetic makeup to see how they may metabolize certain drugs. This process has been around for years but is starting to pick up speed in the mental health care scene to allow doctors to prescribe medications with greater accuracy.

New legislation in Colorado will implement statewide mental health screenings, expanding existing programs in schools and health centers. For example, Glenwood Springs High School has had a screening program in place since 2020. The school's health center provides care ranging from dental exams to counseling and served over 2,500 students last year.

Dental offices like Asian Health Services are starting to incorporate mental health care in their dental services. By observing changes in oral health, building trust with patients to talk about their mental health and having them fill out questionnaires about how they’ve been feeling, dentists are able to identify patients that may be struggling and then help connect them with therapy and treatment. Asian Health Services screens 300 to 400 patients per year, about 7% of which are then referred to counseling.

Green prescriptions, like the practice of forest bathing, are becoming a formal part of the healthcare system. Organizations like PaRx work to connect people to green medicine in an effort to alleviate chronic conditions, increase health and happiness and foster a connection to the environment. Through the work of PaRx, 4,000 green prescriptions have been written by over 10,000 physicians in all 10 provinces.

Fistula Foundation Nigeria helps women with obstetric fistula get free treatment and get back to daily life. The organization also works to prevent obstetric fistula through public education and training doctors.

As countries around the world work to slow the spread of coronavirus, several places including Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Macau have reported success from a handful of methods. Mass testing is a common factor throughout each, but financial incentives for self-quarantine, temperature checks at small businesses, and complimentary hand sanitizersr are a few other solutions that have shown promise.