Unified Women's Healthcare’s Post

The little things, can have the biggest impact. Catching some midweek morning miles 🚴ahead of the VOA Annual Conference, reflecting on the profound impact the VIRGINIA OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATION INC , state associations across the nation, and the American Optometric Association have had advancing patient care and access to care, through advocacy for patients, providers, and communities. Currently a dozen states have advanced scope of optometric care signed into the legislature (including Virginia!👁️), with a dozen more on the immediate horizon, and many more to follow. As a native of Louisiana, which saw expansion of optometric scope of care signed into law in 2014, I can attest to the absolute “win-win-win” for all stakeholders! And, the efforts of the Optometry Association Of Louisiana to make it happen, the culmination of years of progress. Afterall, it’s the little things, compounded over time, that generate big results!🚀 ***** What’s one of those subtle changes in your business, project or pursuit that unleashed the next level of progress or growth? (And if you’re heading to the VOA May 30-June 1, OAL June 7-9, or Optometry’s Meeting June 19-22 come on by the Akrinos, LLC booth!) #midweekmorningmiles #businessbuilder #eyesoftheworld

This piece goes into more detail about the topic I mentioned in my last post on how social workers can do better in helping people with eating disorders and recognizing the harms of intentional weight loss and dieting. This is a great article. Discusses Health at Every Size and how social workers can work to reduce fatphobia and size discrimination. Great description of the history of the BMI scale as well, and how it was never supposed to be used to judge an individual person's health. Click the arrow in the image a few times to see the article by Sorensen. :) #socialwork #socialworkers #SWmonth2024 #EatingDisordersAwarenessWeek #edaw2024 #eatingdisorders #recovery #healthateverysize #haes #antidiet #healthcare #therapy #nutrition #wellness #therapy #edrecovery #discrimination #SocialWorkMonth2024

🚨 Important Research Alert! 🚨 Did you know that in emergency situations, race and gender can impact how incidents are reported? 🤔 New research from Marion County, Indiana (Atkins, et al., Health Justice. 2024 May 31;12(1):25), documents that 9-1-1 callers were less likely to mention "overdose" when the victim was female or Black, compared to white or male victims. The authors discuss that callers may use phrases like "difficulty breathing" or "unconsciousness" to avoid involving law enforcement and ensure only medical assistance arrives. The authors reference complementary research that describes fear of police response by witnesses calling 9-1-1, and specifically in response to overdose. Inaccurate terminology when calling 9-1-1 can delay naloxone administration, thereby increasing risk of overdose death and hypoxic brain injury. You can find this full study, and other important research at the intersection of EMS and racial equity on the CARESTAR Research Library! Come check it out at https://lnkd.in/g44azxdN Let's address racial disparities in emergency responses! 💪 #RaceDisparities #GenderDisparities #EmergencyResponse #CARESTARfoundation

Improving diversity among clinical research study participants starts by building trust and awareness across patient communities. Join our Patient Diversity media campaign that spreads awareness about the critical need for more diverse representation directly to underrepresented communities. Learn more about getting involved: https://lnkd.in/e7Ptf-8

🚀 NEW UPDATE – The new Complete History Timeline is a quicker way to view patient history at a glance! Now you can remind yourself of your next patient's clinical history in a matter of minutes.

Join me as I moderate a discussion with Drs. Angela Hagaman East Tennessee State University, Craig Henderson, Sam Houston State University, Bettina Hoeppner Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School, and Sierra Castedo de Martell, Chestnut Health Systems regarding important questions about the PRSS/RCC workforce and the role they play within their recovery ecosystems. Such questions include: (1) the specific activities PRSS engage in and in which settings they conduct them, (2) how benefit from services is best operationalized and measured, and (3) the economic valuation of these services.

Did you know? Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health is the largest center for women’s health in New York! Watch Dr. Caren F. Behar and Dr. Sonal Chaudhry discuss the growth and accomplishments of the center below! #NYULangoneHealth

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗧𝗖 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗼𝘄 - AOA advocacy leader Dr. Jeffrey Sonsino greets Lina Khan, Chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), during a Capitol Hill visit focused on advancing optometry’s policy priorities, including the urgent need for a crackdown on anti-doctor/anti-patient abuses by the vision plan industry and predatory vision benefit managers (VBMs). Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Sonsino and thousands of advocacy-minded AOA doctors, two Congressional committees have launched inquiries into complaints about VBMs and support for bi-partisan legislation - the Dental and Optometric Care Access Act - to provide relief to optometry practices is growing. To join AOA’s advocacy efforts, please visit the AOA’s Legislative Action Center: https://ow.ly/YFFA50RU0tT

"Claims of colorblindness — based on the false idea that race is no longer relevant in our society and that it’s therefore virtuous to avoid noticing it — can manifest as disregard for the race named in the chart. Such claims may also lead to resistance to acknowledging one’s biases or disregard for the social impact of race, which is itself a form of racism." "Instead of striving to be colorblind, clinicians should notice when a patient’s racial identity has been named and cultivate a practice of questioning its relevance. Especially when race is identified without proper context or clarification of its importance, clinicians should be critical of the writer’s intent. Recognition of patients’ racial identities should also trigger self-examination, to counteract entrenched racist attitudes or cognitive shortcuts that may result in erroneously associating a patient with a particular disease or treatment plan." Last week's post (https://buff.ly/3I30m4y) and this one certainly align and initially gave me pause. I very much believe that documenting race and ethnicity matters within the record. The most critical aspect that these authors note is that this cannot be a cursory or passive exercise but one that is comprehensive to truly document the impact of race on the patient's condition(s) and accurately assess one's own bias when treating the patients. As #hospitalists, we have an obligation to improve how we document the care of our patients because the #acutecare space is where so many of our patients of color receive care. These suggestions on a revised approach to documentation challenges us to identify concrete ways to improve our documentation. #hospitalmedicine #EHR #EMR #clinicaldocumentation #BHM #blackhistorymonth #healthequity

This chilling effect is likely to go beyond #biotech #innovation and #licensing, and could affect all areas of federally funded university innovation/licensing. The framework is also very unlikely to have the intended effect of reducing drug pricing. Thanks AUTM for your efforts in this arena.