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Chelsea Diabetes Quality Improvement
The Chelsea Diabetes Disparities Program is a quality improvement and disparities reduction intervention targeting poorly controlled diabetic patients at MGH’s Chelsea Health Care Center. The Disparities Solutions Center is actively involved in the design of this program based on a culturally competent disease management model involving both individual coaching and group visits. The Center will conduct the evaluation study to assess improvements in glucose control, reductions in disparities between Latino and non-Latino white patients, and patients’ potential barriers to achieving control of their diabetes.
Project Directors: Alexander R. Green, M.D., M.P.H.
Time Frame: April 2005-April 2007
Disparities Dashboard
Under the auspices of the Massachusetts General Hospital Committee on Racial and Ethnic Disparities, the Disparities Solutions Center is working to develop the hospital’s first report card on racial and ethnic disparities in care. The Disparities Dashboard will provide an overview of the diversity of the hospital’s patients and how they are distributed among hospital services, data regarding interpreter services, clinical quality measures for both inpatient and outpatient services by race/ethnicity, and patient experiences with care for different racial and ethnic groups.
Project Directors: Robin M. Weinick, Ph.D. & Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D., M.P.H
Time Frame: July 2005-continuing
Colorectal Cancer Screening Disparities Program
The DSC has begun to work with the MGH Gastroenterology Unit, the Community Benefits Office, and MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center to develop a quality improvement/disparities reduction project to address the marked disparity found in colonoscopy screening rates, particularly striking among Latinos. Similar to the Diabetes Program, this program will focus on identifying barriers to CRC screening, and overcoming these barriers with the help of a bilingual, culturally competent patient navigator. The program will also focus on patient education, provider education, and overcoming logistical and financial barriers to colonoscopy screening.
Project Directors: Alexander R. Green, M.D., M.P.H
Time Frame: April 2006 – continuing
Mental Health Disparities Program
The Disparities Solutions Center is working with MGH Psychiatry to investigate where disparities in mental health service utilization exist throughout MGH, both through research and collaboration with participating clinics. The DSC will propose measures to increase mental health services to minority populations and seek to encourage clinicians and support staff to participate in improving care for minorities with depression.
Project Directors: Alexander R. Green, M.D., M.P.H. & Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D., M.P.H.
Time Frame: January 2007 – December 2008
Jane’s Trust
In partnership with the MGH Community Benefit Program the Center plans to pilot innovative interventions in three disease areas—diabetes, colorectal cancer, and depression in predominantly Latino and African American communities served by the MGH Chelsea Health Center and MGH Revere Health Center. Model programs will be implemented and sustained locally, and will serve as models for addressing disparities that can be replicated in other clinical settings and disseminated widely across the country.
Project Directors: Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D., M.P.H. & Alexander R. Green, M.D., M.P.H.
Time Frame: December 2006- December 2008
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