Are your interventions working?

In the November 2019 issue of the American Psychological Association Monitor, Dr. Cara C. Lewis discusses the ways that measurement-based care can provide behavioral health clinicians with the reassurance that they're doing what they can to help patients meet their goals.

Caring for our primary care providers

The opioid crisis impacts communities in every pocket of our country, and delivery systems are increasingly seeking ways of interacting with patients on long-term opioids to ensure their safety.  As a result, it’s more important than ever to find effective ways to systematically support and care for those who work in primary care providers because they’re often one of the first points of contact for many patients on opioid therapy.

Curbing opioid use in Pacifc Northwest rural clinics

In August 2019, the MacColl Center's Michael Parchman, MD and long-time University of WA collaborator and friend Laura-Mae Baldwin, MD were featured in a KOMO News piece about their intensive efforts to manage opioid prescribing in primary care clinics throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The clinics that participated in the study saw significant declines both in the number of patients who were using opioids for chronic pain, and among those who continued on opioids, the percent who were on higher dose opioids decreased, said lead researcher Michael Parchman. 

Healthy Hearts Northwest: Supplemental support equals big gains, especially in blood pressure care

With just a little bit of support, smaller primary care clinics can improve blood pressure care and lower the risk of patients’ cardiovascular disease, according to the newly published outcomes paper from our Healthy Hearts Northwest project.  The study, “A Randomized Trial of External Practice Support to Improve Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Primary Care,” was published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Announcing the RWJF Value Champions

We're proud to announce the launch of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Safety Net Value Champions Fellowship and the selection of six clinical providers from across the United States as fellows, including a New York City emergency room physician, a Washington State pediatric nurse practitioner, and a New Mexico physician assistant. 

Caring for our rural communities

Rural Oregonians are disproportionately impacted by cardiovascular disease, but practice coaching offers unique support.

By Michael Parchman, MD, MPH, Senior Investigator, MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation and Healthy Hearts Northwest Principal Investigator.

Let’s put measurement-based care in behavioral health treatment

Imagine a primary care visit where no one takes your blood pressure. Instead, your provider looks you up and down and makes a mental note of her impression of what your blood pressure might be. Or she privately concludes in your chart that your blood pressure is likely fine because you don’t mention it as an issue during your interaction. Silly, right? And unlikely, since basing care on reliable assessments — a.k.a. “measurement-based care” — is widespread in most health care.