A major goal in our country is to eliminate health disparities for different minority populations, poor people, and in some cases for women. Disparities lead to differences in deaths from heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, as the four top killers, as well as other illnesses. To eliminate health disparities and improve functional and clinical outcomes, health care organizations must change the way they deliver care. The Health Disparities Collaboratives call for such a change -- a transformation in the delivery of care. The transformation affects how:
 

	Providers such as doctors, dentists, social workers, and nurses deliver care;
	Patients understand and participate in managing their own care; and
	Communities learn to strengthen the provider-patient partnership.

Health centers participating in Collaboratives agree to adopt shared national measures, as well as local measures based on proven guidelines. Measures are aligned with expert guidelines, external reporting requirements such as HEDIS, or other community standards of care. One important shared national measure of every HRSA Health Disparities Collaborative is “patient self-management”, since supporting self-care is an integral part of the chronic care model, crossing all conditions as well as prevention.

Collaborative participants will tell you that change is difficult and that hard work is required. But most will also say that they never want to go back. Supported by the objective data that includes improved patient outcomes and higher provider and patient satisfaction, we are encouraged to continue this work to provide the best patient care possible.

General Resource Links

www.healthdisparities.net – This resource has much good information about Collaborative measures, sample tools that can be downloaded from the library, and you can also sign up to receive listserv emails about your Collaborative topics of choice:  diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular care, etc.   Click here to learn how to obtain access to the virtual office and list serve at the national health disparities website.

http://www.tachc.org/HDC/Overview.asp - This site also has Collaborative-related links and tools, as well as an e-learning site at: http://www.tachc.org/HDC/eLearning.asp, where you can sign up to take free, go-at-your-own-pace, online courses to learn about the Collaboratives in general,  specific conditions, and how to enter and manage data in PECS.

For more information on the Health Disparities Collaboratives e-mail Emily@AUCH.org or log onto the Utah Virtual Office at www.healthdisparities.net.