Performance Improvement 2011-2012. Objective: Improve health care quality and patient safety

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provided funds in 2006 for grants to enhance and expand the provision of effective, culturally competent HIV/AIDS-related mental health services in minority communities for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and having a mental health need. Five-year grants were awarded in FY 2006 to applicants with demonstrated experience providing culturally competent mental health services in their respective communities.

The sixteen grantees assessed 4,569 individuals during the four and one-half year period included in the analysis, primarily from minority communities, and living with HIV/AIDS. Program clients experienced significantly improved mental and physical health as indicated by a decline in depression symptoms and increased mental and physical well-being. Decreases in detectable viral load and increases in CD-4 levels were reported by clients. Clients presented with a wide range of mental health disorders; the most prevalent were depressive disorders, substance-related disorders, and anxiety disorders. Grantees were able to implement expanded or enhanced HIV mental health services in a culturally acceptable manner. The majority of the clients served by the grantees were unemployed and one third was disabled. Moreover, 45 percent of clients were living in unstable housing situations. To accommodate complex and diverse needs, clients were served in a wide variety of service settings with site-specific clinical models that emphasized meeting the clients where they were located. Although grantees were asked to focus on sustainability planning early on in the project period, not all grantees will be able to sustain some or the entire set of project services without additional outside funding. 

Report Title: Evaluation of the CMHS Mental Health HIV Services Collaborative (MHHSC) Program
Agency Sponsor: SAMHSA, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Federal Contact: Ilze Ruditis, 240-276-1777
Performer: James Bell Associates, Inc.
Record ID: 8722 (Report issued December 1, 2010)

The Affordable Care Act requires new health plans to offer certain preventive health services and screenings without imposing cost sharing – including preventive services specifically for women as provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration. This project convened a panel to identify gaps and propose services in addition to those rated A and B in the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, and recommend a process for regular review and updates to such guidelines.

Recommendations to Health and Human Services included coverage of the following services:  well-woman visits; screening for gestational diabetes; human papillomavirus testing; counseling for sexually transmitted infections, counseling and screening for human immune deficiency virus; contraceptive methods and counseling; breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling; and screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence.

Report Title: Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps

http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Clinical-Preventive-Services-for-Women-Closing-the-Gaps.aspx
Agency Sponsor: OASPE-OHP, Office of Health Policy
Federal Contact: Adelle Simmons, 202-690-6870
Performer: Institute of Medicine
Record ID: 9632 (Report issued July 1, 2011)

This study identified and confirmed policy and system based promising practices in heart disease and stroke prevention. The determination of promising practices is based on evidence that these practices have the potential for public health impact on the burden of heart disease and stroke and are adaptable to other geographic settings. Funded state programs submitted interventions. Two selected interventions were intended to improve emergency response, two were intended to improve control of high blood pressure, and two were intended to improve the quality of care and one to improve the spread of policy and system change across a region. A comprehensive evaluation of each of the selected state-funded interventions was conducted.

One of the seven interventions emerged as a promising practice, and three as practices with promising processes. The evaluation helped identify interventions worth sharing as well as criteria, definitions, and methods for identifying promising practices. Staff responsible for each intervention received a summary report identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the intervention and recommendations to improve the program's outcomes and replicability.

Federal Contact: Susan Ladd 770-488-5448
Performer: RTI International
Record ID: 9221 (Report issued September 29, 2010)