Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum To Develop Chronic Care Standards, Examine Overall Health Of State

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 14 Nov 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum, which seeks to develop standards for chronic disease care in the state, will use data from a recent report that suggests Louisiana medical care is influenced by institutional and economical factors to help it identify areas for improvement, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The forum was developed last year after discussions on how the state could reform its health care system for the uninsured after Charity Hospital closed.

With the data collected from the report, as well as additional data from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies, the forum plans to "determine whether doctors in different parts of the state are following a consistent set of practices to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which tend to account for a large proportion of insurance claims," the Times-Picayune reports. The forum also will use the data to examine the state's overall health, such as the percentage of residents who are obese, the number of residents who have access to a primary care physician and the number of premature deaths recorded annually.

Karen DeSalvo, chief of internal medicine and geriatrics at Tulane University, said data from the report will be available online and to policymakers within three to six months. Forum board members said while the group would not have authority to discipline physicians or hospitals for not meeting quality standards, it plans to establish a set of best practices for doctors to follow (Moran, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/12).

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