UNE health policy center partners with others to improve chronic disease care in Hancock County
Portland, Maine — The University of New England's Center for Health Policy, Planning and Research (CHPPR), in collaboration with Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, Mount Desert Island Hospital, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and four Healthy Maine Partnerships, is working on new ways to improve chronic disease care in Hancock County.
In October of 2007, this group formed The Hancock County Chronic Disease Patient Self Management Network and applied for a Network Development Grant from the Health Resource Services Administration (HRSA), USDHHS.
$540,000 Grant
Notice of a $540,000 award from HRSA was received in April. Network grants are for three years and support efforts to increase access to care by overcoming the fragmentation and vulnerability of providers in rural areas.
The Hancock County Network was formed to establish a comprehensive, evidence-based, chronic disease patient self-management (PSM) and prevention system. Using a collaborative process coupled with decentralized planning and implementation, the Network will develop, implement and evaluate services that empower and connect patients with essential education and resources for disease management.
The Network will work with primary care practices, patients and community resources.
Benefits
Patients will benefit from the Network by gaining access to information (including web-based), tools (designed for levels of health literacy) and resources that have demonstrated value in the management of chronic health conditions.
Primary care providers will benefit from the Network through collaboration with other providers and the community, through access to needed tools and resources that promote patient continuity of care and effective service delivery changes while reducing duplication and facilitating integration of best practices PSM strategies.
Network implementation will benefit local communities, the county, and the state of Maine through the improved health of residents, and increased efficiency in the current healthcare delivery system.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to implement and test ways to improve the care of patients with chronic health conditions through innovative patient self management strategies. Our results will inform providers, patients and communities in rural Maine and the nation," said Ron Deprez, Ph.D., M.P.H., executive director of CHPPR and principal investigator of the project.
(News release posted May 17, 2008)