Medical care, well visits to be offered to Scranton students

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Some Scranton School District students may soon receive medical care in school that will treat illnesses, prevent sickness and encourage wellness.

The Scranton School Board is expected to pass a resolution this week that will allow the Wright Center to open school-based health centers in newly renovated medical rooms in the districts three intermediate schools.

The project, funded by a grant obtained by the Wright Center, aims to improve health, wellness and academic performance and could be a model across the region.

The Wright Center fully believes in bringing health care to where kids are, said Kellen Kraky, the centers manager of youth services. We hope to benefit the community at large. ... Its only the beginning.

On Friday, a contractor installed medical equipment in a former science lab at Northeast Intermediate School. The lab now includes a cot area, restroom and two exam rooms. The Wright Center has already updated the medical rooms at the three intermediate schools free of charge to the district, using a $500,000 grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. The medical rooms received renovations and new equipment for student care.

Pending school board approval, the center will use a $300,000 grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc., to staff the centers with a nurse practitioner. Sandra Federo, who holds a doctorate of nursing practice, will split her time between Scrantons three intermediate schools, with the possibility of expanding and offering care to the districts elementary and high school students. She expects to collaborate with school nurses and see students who do not have a primary care physician, and will work with other students physicians.

The Wright Center, a Scranton-based primary care and medical residency training provider, will bill the students health insurance, or work on finding the student access to insurance. Parental consent will be necessary for treatment.

The center also used $500,000 grants to update medical rooms in the North Pocono, Lakeland and Valley View school districts in the last two years. There will not be a nurse practitioner at those schools, but officials say they hope what is being tried in Scranton can be a model across the region. Scranton showed the greatest need, Ms. Kraky said. About 70 percent of Scranton students come from low-income families.

The grant will fund the program for two years, and the Wright Center will fund a matching $80,000 portion of the grant. Eventually, with payments from insurance, the program should be self-sustaining.

Along with comprehensive primary care services, students will have access to mental health, preventive well visits, sick visits, behavioral health screenings, vaccinations and dental services. Officials also plan to engage students and parents on wellness and healthy lifestyles, Ms. Kraky said.

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Medical care, well visits to be offered to Scranton students

UI-Carle medical school up for Academic Senate vote

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Photo by: Rick Danzl/The News-Gazette

University of Illinois professors Neal Cohen, left, and Rahit Bhargava, at Beckman Institute Friday Feb. 5, 2015, both will be talking at Monday's senate meeting about how a College of Medicine in Urbana would help their health research and the community in general.

URBANA University of Illinois researcher Neal Cohen brings in grants worth millions of dollars to design tests used worldwide for patients with amnesia, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and brain injuries.

Yet almost none of the patients he has studied are in Champaign-Urbana.

With no academic medical center in town, his team works with doctors and patients at medical schools at the University of Iowa, Washington University, Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Rush Medical College in Chicago.

"Much of the grant money I've obtained, much of the opportunity to train medical students and interns and residents about memory and amnesia, and much of the opportunity to apply what we've learned about memory and amnesia to help patients in the local community have gone to those other institutions," he said.

Cohen, director of the UI's new Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Initiative, is among the professors campaigning for a new engineering-focused medical school at the Urbana campus, developed in partnership with Carle Health System.

The campus Academic Senate is scheduled to vote on the proposal when it meets at 3:10 p.m. today, in what would be the first formal step toward approval for the plan.

The senate will also consider several items dealing with fallout from the Steven Salaita case, ranging from revamped hiring procedures to a proposal to reconsider the embattled professor's appointment, as the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure recommended in December.

Chancellor Phyllis Wise proposed a small, engineering-focused medical school last year that would be independently accredited and use no state funding. The current medical school here is a regional campus of the College of Medicine at UI Chicago.

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UI-Carle medical school up for Academic Senate vote

Health Dialog Signs Agreement with Harvard Medical School to Review Award-Winning Shared Decision Making Aids

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BOSTON, Mass. (PRWEB) February 09, 2015

Health Dialog, a leading provider of population health management solutions, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the Harvard Health Publications Division of Harvard Medical School to validate the medical information provided in Health Dialogs shared decision making aids. The shared decision making aids provide evidence-based, unbiased information on treatment options and condition management to support more informed dialog between individuals and their physicians. Data show patients who are informed and participate in their treatment decisions are more satisfied with their care.

Health Dialog's award-winning aids provide patients with easy to understand summaries of medical evidence related to their condition and decisions, and feature real patient experiences that model effective decision making. Information on a broad range of health matters including surgical decisions, screening and testing decisions, and management of chronic conditions is accessible via web, DVDs and booklets. Beginning in January 2015, physicians from Harvard Medical School began providing evidence-based clinical content review of the decision aid library. Harvard Medical School physicians will validate all of the health information included in the tools to ensure they reflect the latest clinical evidence and will work with Health Dialog to revise content as needed. All decision aids will carry the Harvard Medical School logo as evidence of the institution facultys review. The online versions of these tools will also name the specific Harvard Medical School reviewer for each program.

Health Dialog has created an impressive suite of comprehensive health information to help patients make informed decisions, said Gregory D. Curfman, M.D., Editor in Chief of Harvard Health Publications. These shared decision making aids provide in-depth, balanced, evidence-based information. Were excited to review and update these valuable health management tools.

Individuals who participate in Health Dialogs shared decision making programs tend to choose less invasive care and report being more satisfied with both their care and their health plan, which translates to better health outcomes and reduced costs for both the patient and health plan. Health Dialogs shared decision making aids have collectively earned the company more than 100 industry awards for content, ease-of-use and design.

Our relationship with Harvard Medical School underscores the value of our decision aids and provides further evidence of their quality, said Peter Goldbach, M.D., Chief Medical Officer. The reviews by faculty from Harvard Medical School ensure that our decision aids will remain clinically accurate, current and best in class, delivering the information patients need to make decisions that are best for their situation and effectively manage their health conditions.

About Health Dialog: Health Dialog Services Corporation is a leading provider of population health management solutions. The company works with the nations largest third-party payers, employers and providers as well as Health Dialogs parent company, Rite Aid to improve the health and wellness of their members, employees, patients and customers while reducing costs and improving performance in key quality measures, such as NCQAs HEDIS and CMS Stars ratings. Health Dialogs unique capabilities include data analytics, a multi-media coaching platform, and a 24/7 nurse line. For more information, visit http://www.healthdialog.com.

About Harvard Medical School: Harvard Medical School (http://hms.harvard.edu) has more than 12,000 faculty members working in academic departments at the School's Boston campus or in hospital-based clinical departments at 17 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those affiliates include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Forsyth Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Hebrew SeniorLife, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and VA Boston Healthcare System.

Media Inquiries: Shanti Skiffington Samvega Public Relations mobile: 617.921.0808 shanti.skiffington(at)gmail(dot)com

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Health Dialog Signs Agreement with Harvard Medical School to Review Award-Winning Shared Decision Making Aids

Students told to study libertarianism

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City Police Commissioner A.B. Venkateswara Rao on Sunday advised students to understand various philosophies and study libertarianism that helped develop society.

He was addressing a workshop on Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship organised by the Department of Business Management, V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College, in association with the Language of Liberty Institute, USA.

Self-philosophy

He said students should develop self-philosophy to gain clarity in personal and professional lives.

College convenor M. Rajaiah observed that the difference between developing and developed nations was the concept of free market reforms.

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Students told to study libertarianism