The Power of Communication: Empowering and Engaging Patients as Partners in Managing Care Decisions

The Power of Communication:  Empowering and Engaging Patients
as Partners in Managing Care Decisions

Friday, September 19, 2014
12 – 1:00 pm ET
Click here to register.

Sponsored by Merck Foundation

While there are many paths to better health, something as simple as a conversation can lead to improved patient outcomes. The Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes health care delivery sites have piloted new ways to improve patient outcomes using shared-decision making, culturally-relevant interventions and other techniques to better communicate with patients and empower them to be an active participant in their care. These techniques can lead to measurable improvements in health outcomes and enhanced efficiency in healthcare delivery.

Webinar participants will hear from leaders from these sites and other health policy experts to learn about ways to:

• Integrate non-clinical team members into the care team to facilitate patient communication
• Involve patients in determining their treatment plans
• Increase understanding and trust between patients and providers through culturally-tailored interventions

The webinar will also feature a panel discussion to explore the implications of better communications for the health care team and wider delivery system, health care financing, and patient satisfaction.

Panelists will include:

• Kavita Patel, MD, MPH, Managing Director, Clinical Transformation and Delivery, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, The Brookings Institution (Moderator)
• Erin P. Kane, MD, Family Physician, Baylor Community Care
• Monica Peek, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Section of General Internal Medicine; Associate Director, Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research, University of Chicago 
• Megan Lewis, PhD, Director, Patient & Family Engagement Research Program, Center for Communication Science, RTI International

To register for the webinar, click here.
 

About the Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes

The Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes, a national program launched and supported by Merck Foundation, works to improve health care delivery among those populations most at risk for diabetes – African-American, Hispanic/Latino and Native American adults. The five health care delivery sites that comprise the Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes have implemented multifaceted evidence-based approaches designed to eliminate gaps produced by inequity and lack of targeted attention to those adults and their families who are most likely to be severely burdened by diabetes. For more information about the Alliance and its sites, click here.