If you haven’t visited the Center for Total Health recently, May was a busy month with events covering a wide range of topics and initiatives. In addition to hosting robust discussions about preventing violence, preventing and treating cancer, and creating innovative, healthy workplaces, we also had the opportunity to celebrate National Nurses Week (May 6-12) with leaders from the American Nurses Foundation. We not only welcomed this organization to the Center, but also showcased onsite displays that bring to life nursing leadership and communicate our appreciation for the difference nurses make in patients’ lives.
- We welcomed the National Health Collaborative on Violence and Abuse (NHCVA) – including representatives from more than 30 health professional organizations – to discuss ways to reduce and address the health consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) and abuse. Our very own Brigid McCaw, MD, represented Kaiser Permanente’s Family Violence Prevention Program, highlighting the crucial role health care play in caring for victims.
- DC’s Colorectal Cancer Roundtable Summit brought local and national providers, advocates and educators to the Center to discuss the prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer and ways to improve screening rates to 80% by 2018 – a lifesaving goal set by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable. Joseph Territo, MD, of the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, shared how Kaiser Permanente consistently ranks in the top 10% of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) HEDIS Measures, which assess the number of adults who have had appropriate screening for colorectal cancer. NCQA data is also featured throughout the Center’s onsite displays.
- The Center hosted the third annual Better Together event, All Systems Go! Closing the Gaps in Cancer Care, with the American Cancer Society and the Council for Accountable Physician Practices. The event highlighted patient stories, representing how coverage and accountable healthcare systems can improve survival and reduce morbidity for people living with complex conditions like cancer.
- We hosted the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI) and challenged attendees to think about Health Care Without Walls, a mind-shift to caring for patients outside of conventional institutional settings. To help get the conversation started, the center’s staff presented “Imaging Care Anywhere,” an example of our own provocation used with staff to think about the next generation of care for Kaiser Permanente members.
- CoreNet Global’s Mid-Atlantic Chapter turned to Center to host an educational event focused on The Healthy Workplace, highlighting the subtle nudges that can be built into our work environments to drive healthier behaviors. Architects, designers, facility managers and other professionals learned how improving the health and wellbeing of employees through facility design can improve an organization’s bottom line, and also toured the Center’s interactive space to see the learnings come to life.
During the month, the Center also hosted meetings on improving prenatal conversations, credentialing of community health workers, and increasing the quality of ambulatory services, and welcomed a wide range of students, health care leaders, government employees and medical professionals for tours of our interactive and educational facility.
