‘Health equity is missing the value in value-based payments’
Clallam County Public Health Officer Dr. Chris Frank recently authored a column on KevinMD.com on how value-based payments could potentially exacerbate health disparities. Value-based payments reward favorable health outcomes, but often health outcomes are tied to social factors, and Dr. Frank writes that this could make it a disincentive to care for sicker, less wealthy people. Working toward equity of care is one of WSHA’s priorities, and one of the initial challenges is in collecting REAL (Race, Ethnicity, Age and Language) data, which can yield a good analysis and improve care. Read more about WSHA’s health equity work. (Lisa Segerstrom)
The states taking the opioid epidemic seriously (and not), in one map
There’s a simple way to understand how the opioid epidemic got so bad in America: In the U.S., it is much easier to get high than it is to get help for addiction. Washington State’s ratio of certified anti-overdose medication providers to opioid deaths is significantly better than average. See the map from Vox. (Ian Corbridge)