CHIP’S ANDREW WANG PRESENTS AT ACADEMYHEALTH

Andrew Wang, a Doctoral Research Assistant at CHIP, recently presented the center’s research abstract, “Impact of Practice Facilitation in Primary Care on Chronic Disease Care Processes and Outcomes: A Systematic Review,” at AcademyHealth’s 2018 Annual Research Meeting. Held in Seattle, WA, the AcademyHealth research meeting convened close to 3,000 individuals, including experts at the intersection of health, health care, and health policy. Andrew, the lead author of the study, was the primary reviewer; CHIP’s Samuel Ross and Lauren Kadziel, who are also authors on the paper, served as secondary reviewers.

The systematic review, which has recently been accepted for publication in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, evaluates the impact of practice facilitation on chronic disease outcomes in the primary care setting. The review’s findings suggest that practice facilitation may improve chronic disease outcomes for chronic diseases such as asthma, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, which are all leading causes of death in the United States.

Andrew also presented another CHIP abstract at AcademyHealth, titled “Examining the Effects of the Social Determinants of Health and Insurance Status on Health, Mortality, and Care Utilization.” The research examines the separate and combined effects of health insurance and social determinants of health on health outcomes – specifically, mortality and care utilization rates.

Both research projects address a gap in existing data and knowledge, and strengthen the evidence needed to inform policy decisions impacting the health of communities.