June  2007

In this Issue:

New Resources

NEW MEDIA:

• American Medical Association’s Educating Physicians on Controversies in Health (EPoCH) 
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation: “Which Way to Turn? Options for Rebuilding the Gulf Region’s Health Infrastructure” 
  
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Disparities Web page  

PUBLICATIONS:

• American Journal of Public Health: A Nationwide Study of Discrimination and Chronic Health Conditions among Asian Americans
  
• Center for American Progress: Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care System: Five Myths That Misinform the American Public 
  
• Families USA: Confronting Disparities while Reforming Health Care: A look at Massachusetts 
  
• George Washington University Medical Center: An Initial Assessment of the Effects of Medicaid Documentation Requirements on Health Centers and Their Patients 
  
• The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): Differences in Mortality and Use of Revascularization in Black and White Patients with Acute MI Admitted to Hospitals with and without Revascularization Services 
  
• Mathematica Policy Research: Personal Health Records: What Do Underserved Consumers Want? 
  
• National Health Law Center: Medicaid and SCHIP Reimbursement Models for Language Services 
  
• Pediatrics: Differences in Severity-Adjusted Pediatric Hospitalization Rates Are Associated with Race/Ethnicity

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation  and Community Catalyst: Consumer Voices for Coverage

Activities in the Field

Policy Updates 

     Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act
    
Upcoming Events

New Resources

NEWS MEDIA:

• American Medical Association’s Educating Physicians on Controversies in Health (EPoCH) program has created several videos on minority health issues. The topics of the videos include health disparities,  collecting data on race and ethnicity, racially targeted medicine, and language access.
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation has posted a podcast of the event “Which Way to Turn? Options for Rebuilding the Gulf Region’s Health Infrastructure”. The podcast features a panel of experts discussing the future of the "charity" hospital system in New Orleans.
  
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has created a new disparities Web page that includes publications and information listed according to racial/ ethnic group, as well as by topic area.
  

PUBLICATIONS:

• American Journal of Public Health recently published a study entitled A Nationwide Study of Discrimination and Chronic Health Conditions among Asian Americans that suggests Asian Americans experience chronic illness due to the stress of racial discrimination.
  
• Center for American Progress released the report Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care System: Five Myths That Misinform the American Public. The report attempts to debunk the myth that one of the biggest reasons for our nation’s failing health care system is the growth of immigration, as opposed to lack of insurance and skyrocketing health care costs.
  
• Families USA released a case study, Confronting Disparities while Reforming Health Care: A look at Massachusetts, that discusses the opportunity to pass legislation to help reduce health disparities while also working on state health reform.
  
• George Washington University Medical Center released an issue brief titled An Initial Assessment of the Effects of Medicaid Documentation Requirements on Health Centers and Their Patients. The issue brief details the impact of the citizen documentation requirements of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) on both health care providers and Medicaid beneficiaries.
  
• The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study titled Differences in Mortality and Use of Revascularization in Black and White Patients with Acute MI Admitted to Hospitals with and without Revascularization Services. The study found that black heart attack patients are less likely than their white counterparts to receive advanced medical treatment.
  
• Mathematica Policy Research recently released an issue brief entitled Personal Health Records: What Do Underserved Consumers Want?. The brief looks at different models of personal health records and how these different models meet the needs and wants of underserved minorities.
   
• National Health Law Center recently updated its publication Medicaid and SCHIP Reimbursement Models for Language Services. The document provides examples of existing state mechanisms for directly reimbursing providers for language services provided to Medicaid and SCHIP enrollees.
  
• Pediatrics (a publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics) has published a study, Differences in Severity-Adjusted Pediatric Hospitalization Rates Are Associated with Race/Ethnicity, that describes the disparities between minority and white children in hospitalization rates after emergency room visits.
  

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Community Catalyst have launched a $12 million effort to strengthen state consumer health advocacy networks in selected states across the U.S. The national program, Consumer Voices for Coverage, will use a competitive application process and will award grants of up to $750,000 over a three-year period. The application deadline is September 18, 2007.  For more details on how to apply, click here.
  

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Activities in the Field

Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations

The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) is a national nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California that represents community health centers (CHCs) that primarily serve Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the United States. AAPIs across the country are disproportionately affected by numerous diseases and health conditions, including diabetes, hepatitis B, and HIV/AIDS. To help reduce the burden of these diseases on AAPIs, the AAPCHO has implemented a broad range of health education and promotion programs through its member community health centers. It also provides technical assistance, training, data, and resources to organizations nationwide to help them better serve AAPIs in their communities.

CHCs such as those represented by AAPCHO are uniquely positioned to reduce the health disparities experienced in AAPI populations. CHCs help remove barriers to primary and preventive health care services  by providing appropriate language services, culturally competent care, and a comprehensive medical home for individuals who might not otherwise have access to health care. AAPCHO member centers provide culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services to more than 250,00 patients annually.

In addition to the care that AAPCHO member centers provide to underserved AAPIs, the AAPCHO lobbies and advocates for programs, policies, and legislation that can improve the health status and access of medically underserved AAPIs. Their Web site features an action center visitors can use to send messages to both local and national elected officials and the media, and it also highlights important legislative issues that affect the health of AAPIs.

For more information on the AAPCHO, please contact Jeffrey B. Caballero at 510-272-9536 ext. 105 or by e-mail at jeffc@aapcho.org.

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Policy Updates

Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act

On June 7, Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced the Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act, a bipartisan bill modeled largely after last year’s minority health legislation.

Racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. are disproportionately uninsured, experience significant barriers to obtaining appropriate and high-quality care, and all too often face injustice and discrimination in the health care system. The Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act would lay the groundwork for addressing these problems by improving data collection on race and ethnicity, better coordinating federal resources and research on health disparities, and strengthening community-based strategies for providing health care to minorities.

More specifically, the bill, S. 1576 includes several laudable provisions: It requires improved data collection on race and ethnicity; strengthens federal research on health disparities; encourages greater diversity in the health care workforce; codifies the CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant program; and establishes grants to improve access to health care, including increasing outreach and enrollment in available health care programs through the use of community health workers.

We are closely tracking this legislation, which is expected to be marked up in committee as early as next month. In the House, members of the Congressional TriCaucus (the combined members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus) are working on a companion minority health bill to be introduced later this summer.

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Upcoming Events

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Program for Ethnicity, Culture, and Health Outcomes will host the 13th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute  and Videoconference on Minority Health entitled  "Does Racism Make Us Sick?" on June 25 from 2:00-4:00 pm EST. The event will include a live, interactive webcast.
  
• The Commonwealth Fund will host a briefing to discuss its new report entitled “Closing the Divide: The Role of the Medical Home for Promoting Equity in Health Care: Results from the 2006 Commonwealth Fund Healthcare Quality Survey.” The briefing will also address what steps the federal government can take to promote health care equity. It will be held in the White, Murrow, Lisagor Rooms at The National Press Club on June 27 from 12:00-1:30 p.m. Lunch and copies of the new report will be available. To RSVP, please contact Erin Kerr at ekerr@burnesscommunications.com or 301-652-1558.
  
• The Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital will host a Web seminar series this summer. The first webinar in the series, "Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Discussion of the Joint Commission's Survey of Culturally Competent Practices," will be held on Friday, June 29 from 3:00-4:30 pm EST. To register for the event, click here.
  
• The University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science and the Arizona Health Sciences Library will host “¡Salud se Puede!: 2007 Trejo Foster Foundation Institute” from July 12-14 at the University of Tucson in Arizona. The event will focus on health information issues for Hispanics and Latinos. Click here to download the registration form.
  
• The Medical University of South Carolina, along with South Carolina State University, the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Health Braintrust, will sponsor “The National Conference on Health Disparities: Past, Present and Future” on July 19-21 at the Charleston Marriott in Charleston, South Carolina.
  
   
  
   
  

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