Recent News

CMS puts $120 million into bridging gaps between clinic and community (Modern Healthcare)

Apr 7th, 2017

What happens after a patient leaves the doctor's office is just as important, if not more so, as what takes place during the visit itself. But bridging that gap between the clinic and community is a major challenge for healthcare and community providers alike.

In an effort to close the divide, the CMS Innovation Center said Thursday it will give up to $120 million to 32 organizations selected to participate in its Accountable Health Communities model. Over five years, the groups will serve as test hubs helping Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with health-related social needs including housing instability, food insecurity, domestic violence and transportation.

The three-track model aims to reduce unnecessary healthcare utilization in order to drive down spending, while also improving outcomes and quality of care for patients. Model participants will work to improve community-clinical collaboration by screening beneficiaries for unmet social needs, referring them to the right services or helping them navigate and access those services. They also work to ensure that community services are available and responsive to beneficiaries.

Read the entire story.

Baltimore City Health Department Has a New Look!

Apr 7th, 2017

You may have noticed over the past few days that we revealed a new Baltimore City Health Department logo. The logo change is part of a larger rebranding strategy to standardize our image across the entire agency.

Baltimore City Health Department Old Logo New Logo Comparison Local Government Rebrand

Over the past six months, the communications team analyzed our internal and external documents as well as evaluated the core values of the agency. The result was a refined vision and mission statement grounded in equity, community, and wellbeing.

Baltimore City Health Department Awarded over $4 million to Connect Patients to Critical Community Services

Apr 7th, 2017

BALTIMORE, MD (April 7, 2017) — The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) announced today that the agency has been selected for a $4.2 million, five-year cooperative agreement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under its Accountable Health Communities (AHC) program to support efforts to implement a comprehensive model that will better connect patients to health-related community and social services.

Commissioner's Corner: National Public Health Week & National Youth Violence Prevention Week

Apr 7th, 2017

The first week of April is an important one in the world of public health as we recognize both National Public Health Week as well as National Youth Violence Prevention Week. At a time in Baltimore when public health is a critical lever for addressing some of our city’s major disparities, we must all consider the ways in which public health and social justice are inextricably connected.

Here’s a new way to tell Baltimore city government what you think (Technical.ly)

Apr 6th, 2017

The city has a new web platform to find out what residents want from their government. 

On Wednesday, Mayor Catherine Pugh announced that Open City Hall is live on the city’s website.

The platform from Peak Democracy offers surveys that allow residents to weigh in on their views and priorities. All city departments will be able to use the platform to poll residents, but it’s starting in three areas.

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The Baltimore City Health Department is seeking views on equity issues, and the role that health plays in issues such as violence, addiction and housing.

“We know that there are neighborhoods in our city that are just a few miles apart where the life expectancy can differ by 20 years, and yet we also have the medical institutions in the world that are right here in our backyard,” said Health Commissioner Leana Wen. “So we know that health is not just about the healthcare that you get.”

Read the entire story.

 

Residents across Baltimore can expect to live longer (Baltimore Sun)

Apr 4th, 2017

Life expectancy grew in nearly every Baltimore neighborhood in the last six years, but a yawning gap still remains between the most disadvantaged and the wealthiest areas, according to data compiled by city health department officials.

The department looks at 60 indicators in clusters of neighborhoods every few years to draw both a larger picture of health and a specific idea of what public health issues officials and residents should tackle. The indicators include the rates of disease and infant mortality, demographic information, environmental factors such as the number of liquor stores, and socioeconomic measures such as poverty levels and incomes.

These neighborhood health profiles have provided an oft-cited talking point in public health circles about intractable disparities within the city — a 20-year difference in the average life expectancy between neighborhoods.

Read the entire story. 

Trump vows to step up effort on addiction (Baltimore Sun)

Mar 31st, 2017

President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to increase federal efforts to confront opioid addiction as his administration created a commission to study ways to expand treatment programs across the nation.

In a meeting with recovering addicts and advocates at the White House, the president said opioid and heroin addiction had become "a crippling problem" and he repeatedly said he was frustrated the issue hadn't received more attention.

"Drug cartels have spread their deadly industry across our nation, and the availability of cheap narcotics, some of it comes in cheaper than candy, has devastated our communities," said Trump, who also raised the issue during his campaign last year. "Nobody really wants to talk about it."

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"Any attention to the public health emergency of opioid addiction is important; hearing the president talk about addressing the opioid crisis is important," said Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore's health commissioner.

"But we need to move beyond rhetoric," she said. "We know what works when it comes to treating the disease of addiction. We now need the resources to be able to combat this epidemic."

Read the entire story.

Trump opioid commission leaves out key stakeholder (Modern Healthcare)

Mar 31st, 2017

Experts focused on finding ways to curb the number of overdoses in the U.S. say there's one very important person missing from President Donald Trump's commission—any representative from the federal agency regulating prescription drugs.

“There's quite a bit the Food and Drug Administration could be doing and hasn't done,” said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, co-director of opioid policy research at Brandeis University, referring to stricter federal regulation of prescription painkillers which physicians have often used to treat common chronic conditions such as back pain and fibromyalgia.

Trump on Wednesday introduced a high-profile group that is tasked with reporting on ideas and progress towards curbing the nation's opioid epidemic. It includes New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—who has led several statewide efforts to address heroin addiction—U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Defense Secretary James Mattis and HHS Secretary Tom Price.

Read the entire story.

Commissioner's Corner: Public Health is Inextricably Tied to Social Justice

Mar 31st, 2017

Public health is inextricably tied to social justice. Our work every day focuses on helping residents across Baltimore to cut rampant health disparities in our communities. 

Healthwatch With Dr. Leana Wen: ACA's Uncertain Future; Opioid Crisis Update (WYPR)

Mar 30th, 2017

In a dramatic political showdown last week on the nation’s health insurance system, the Republican-led House and a determined President Trump tried but failed to repeal and replace The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare. Speaker Paul Ryan’s decision to withdraw his controversial bill, because of defections by both conservative and moderate Republicans, means the ACA remains the law of the land. But with opponents still vowing to bring the program down, are critical medical coverage and public health services still in jeopardy? 

Concerns were also raised this month by the Trump Administration’s proposed 2018 budget, which would boost defense spending and sharply reduce funding to federal agencies like Health and Human Services, whose budget would be cut by 18% next year. What would such cuts mean for the future of medical research, maternal health care and addiction treatment?

For now, Governor Larry Hogan's declaration earlier this month of a State of Emergency provides an extra 50 million dollars over the next five years to combat the heroin and opioid epidemic in Maryland, and help support the state's prevention, recovery and enforcement efforts. 

Today, it’s another edition of the Midday Healthwatch, our monthly visit with Dr. Leana Wen, the Health Commissioner of the City of Baltimore. She joins Tom in the studio to talk about the ACA going forward, the state's continuing battle against the opioid epidemic, and other issues on the front lines of public health.

Listen to the entire show.

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