May 29, 2018 | Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) call for revision to the Hospital

Readmissions Reduction Program to reduce unintended consequences that could threaten the health care delivery system in the Mississippi Delta region in a new study published in The American Journal of Managed Care.

The program provides financial incentives for hospitals to deliver higher-quality, higher-value care by reducing Medicare reimbursements to hospitals with higher-than-average readmission rates for selected conditions.

“In the Mississippi Delta, one of the country’s poorest areas, community factors matter,” said Hsueh-Fen Chen, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health and lead author on the study. “They matter so much that once accounted for, readmissions were not much different from those in the rest of the country for heart failure and were about the same for pneumonia and heart attacks,”

The study examined data from 2013-2016 for counties that fall under the Mississippi Delta Regional Authority, in parts of eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

Chen and her colleagues compared 30-day readmission ratios for hospitals in the Delta region, the remaining counties of the eight Delta states, and the rest of the nation.

When not controlling for hospital and community factors, they found the Delta region and state hospitals had higher readmission ratios for pneumonia, heart failure and heart attacks. But when they controlled for hospital and community factors, the significant difference in readmission ratios for pneumonia and heart attack disappeared, and the difference for heart failure was much less pronounced between hospitals in the Delta region and those in the rest of the nation.

Factors linked to higher readmission ratios for pneumonia and heart failure were whether a patient was treated in a major teaching hospital, which tend to take the sickest patients, and the percentage of the community that is African American.

Oddly, high poverty was associated with lower readmissions for heart attacks, but the researchers noted that mortality rates for this condition are very high if patients cannot access treatment in a timely manner.

Chen and coauthors conclude that these findings show that changes to the program are necessary and urgent to ensure that the resources are not removed from the communities that need them most.

Her co-authors are Adrienne Nevola, M.P.H.; Mack Bird, Ph.D.; Saleema Karim, Ph.D.; Michael Morris, Ph.D.; and J. Mick Tilford, Ph.D., from the Department of Health Policy and Management and Fei Wan, Ph.D., from the Department of Biostatistics, both in the UAMS College of Public Health.

To read the full study, go to: http://www.ajmc.com/journals/issue/2018/2018-vol24-n5/understanding-factors-associated-with-readmission-disparities-among-delta-region-delta-state-and-other-hospitals

Degrees and certificates were awarded to 54 graduates in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health May 19 during a commencement ceremony at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

Interim UAMS Chancellor Stephanie Gardner, PharmD., Ed.D., presented the Chancellor’s Award to Joseph H. Bates, M.D., M.S., professor and associate dean for Public Health Practice in the COPH.

The award is presented to a person whose service at UAMS is deserving of special recognition. Previous recipients include Sam M. Dixon, former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers, Jack Stephens, Lawrence Schmiedling and Willard and Pat Walker.

Bates is recognized internationally for his research that greatly improved the understanding and treatment of tuberculosis. He spent 35 years at UAMS, including 21 years as vice chair for the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine.

Upon his retirement from UAMS in 1998, Bates became deputy state health officer and chief science officer for the Arkansas Department of Health. He was instrumental in establishing the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement and the COPH.

Congrats Dr. Bates!

The following are graduates of the COPH, listed by degree :

Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Public Health
Victor D. Alexander
James Ovid Booker*
Brandy Cooper*
James Randall Sarrett*

Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Environmental and Occupational Health
Charese Marie Simpson

Master of Health Administration
Kate McMillan Bellingrath*
Nicole Alexandra Breaux*
Payton Mackenzie Clyburn*
Wade Allen Euel Freer
Robert Allen Furrey
Stephen J. Hogg
Daniel Taliaferro McFarland
Harpreet Kaur Notey
Booth McGregor Owens *
Gregory Lewis Pryor *
Nancy Gail Purnell*
Rebecca K. Stone*
Memory Camille Waddle*

Master of Public Health

Biostatistics 
Noel D. Thompson*

Environmental and Occupational Health 
Carl Richard Taffner
Shaima Faheem Zayed

Epidemiology 
Jonathan Walter Aram *
Kailyn-Marie Bostic
Alisha Ann-Marie Crump
Jana Sheree Jacobs
Isaiah C. Ozuna
Shelbie Dawn Stahr *

Health Behavior and Health Education 
Hannah Jane Baroni*
Avery N. Cato
James Ray Davis
Joseph Connor Gibbs
William Marshall Gibbs, IV
Candice Graham-Adderton
Halie Annette Moreno*
Latasha Talley Moore
Samuel Evan Siegel*
Lorraine Stigar
Elizabeth Sloan Wenzel*

Health Policy and Management 
Dominique Alexandra Hamby
Jennifer Morales*
Jennifer Lynn Victory*

Rural Public Health Practice 
Lauren Downen Griever

MD/MPH
Grant Alexander Cagle*
Jheanelle Nickale Dawkins*
Claire Chesshir Foster*
AjaNia Hearne*
Michael Collins Scott*
Lauren Elizabeth Taylor*

PharmD/MPH
Megan LeAnn Chapman*
Dipali Yogin Patel*

MPH/MPS
Martha Jordan Butler

Doctor of Public Health
Emily Southwelle English*

Doctor of Philosophy (Health Prevention and Promotion Research)
Stephanie Ryan McCoy
Sharon Elaine Sanders

*Honor Graduates

May 17, 2018 | The Arkansas FAITH-Academic Initiatives for Transforming Health (FAITH) Network has been selected to participate in the National Leadership Academy for Public’s Health program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Arkansas FAITH Network is a collaboration of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and faith-based organizations. They work to deliver health programs and health education to faith communities across the state.

The Arkansas FAITH Network team will work on an applied health leadership project that tackles an important population health issue with the goal of improving public health outcomes.

The team consists of Keneshia Bryant-Moore, Ph.D., R.N., associate professor; and Tiffany Haynes, Ph.D., assistant professor; both from the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. The other members are Joy Rockenbach, faith-based coordinator at the Arkansas Department of Health, and Rev. William Givens, minister of Christian education, St. John Baptist Church.

Bryant-Moore is the team lead for Arkansas FAITH Network.

“This is a great opportunity for academia, public health and faith/community leaders to not only have training and support from the national program and the CDC, but to really dig deep and address population health with those most affected by illness due to health disparities,” Bryant-Moore said.

Arkansas ranks 48^th in the nation in overall health status and ability to access health care. Individuals in Arkansas are more likely to report engaging in behaviors such as smoking and lack of physical activity that place them at risk for developing chronic health conditions.

The team will address three health issues due to disparities experienced in racial/ethnic minority communities and vulnerable populations including mental health, obesity and diabetes over the next several years. Initial projects will focus on mental health.

“This program will impart population health teams with the skills to lead across sectors and collaboratively solve complex population health problems in innovative ways,” said Carmen Rita Nevarez, M.D., M.P.H., vice president for external relations and director of the Center for Health Leadership and Practice. “These are the types of leaders who will ultimately be able to drive critical efforts, such as the adoption of evidence-based policies and practices at the community level, which can have a tangible impact on health outcomes.”

The National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health will provide training and support to assist the team in successfully addressing mental health in Arkansas. Training and support will focus on two tracks. The first is the development of leadership skills, including personal and collaborative leadership in a multi-sector environment. The second emphasizes growth from team-based collaborative work to policy and systems change.

The National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health is a national program focused on improving population health by working with multi-sector leadership teams and training the teams through an applied, team-based collaborative leadership development model. The program is implemented by the Center for Health Leadership and Practice, a center of the Public Health Institute and will provide training and support for one year.

PUBLIC HEALTH GRAND ROUNDS
ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
AUDITORIUM
April 26, 2018
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.

Topic:

Crossing the Quality Chasm:
A Regional Programs Perspective

Presented By

Brandie L. Mikesell
Director of Clinical Transformation
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

PUBLIC HEALTH SEMINAR

GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN HOME HEALTHCARE SPENDING:
IMPROVED QUALITY OR INEFFICIENCY?

Robert F. Schuldt, MA
Health Systems and Services Research
Department of Health Policy and Management

RAHN 3202
Tuesday, April 24th
Noon – 1:00pm
You are welcome to bring your lunch!