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5 STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENT

 

GOAL: To make your community as healthy as it can be.

 

Taking care of yourself is a good start, but addressing more far-reaching healthcare issues, like hospital-acquired infections is important, too. Only by taking ownership by engaging locally with neighbors and nationally on larger concerns can we drive excellent outcomes and improve the healthcare system.

Get Social provides activities and tools you can use to affect positive change in our healthcare system. It’s designed to help you assess the health of your environment, explore healthcare facilities in your community also includes information and tools to assess the health of your environment and engage the stakeholders.

 

Whether you are motivated by making sure that the health care services you get are the best for you or by a desire to improve our health care system, making your health care environment work for you is of great importance. How healthy is your environment?  You can learn about and work for quality health care services in your community. Whether you are healthy or suffer from a chronic condition, or care for an elderly frail parent, there are lots of things that you can do to improve your health and contribute to the health of our health care system. Every time you use health care services you may contribute to solving the health care problem. Working to improve your healthcare is a team effort and requires you to engage with others to achieve your goals. The engagement options listed vary and relate to broad goals. Share with us your experience.

 

GET THE FACTS ABOUT THE HEALTH OF YOUR COMMUNITY

 

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD, PARTICIPATE IN THE CONVERSATION

 

SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS

 

GET INVOLVED WITH THE LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS

 

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY

GET SOCIAL

Get the facts about the health of your community
Did you know that your environment has a big impact on your health? The Evidence: Prosperity Depends on Our Health. Our Health Depends on Where We Live. Where we live, work and play directly impacts our health. With so much at stake, getting facts is a good place to start.

 

Take action:

 

  • Learn about the ways your health is influenced by local factors: The County Health Rankings Project, Citizens4health Community Assessment Initiative

  • Learn about community health programs: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Learn about the ranking of your state overall: United Health Foundation

  • The County Health Rankings Project

  • Learn about healthcare quality of services provided in your community

  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

  • Develop an action plan to achieve improved health for your community

  • Work your action plan and assess your progress regularly             

  • Identify stakeholders and partners   

 

 

Make your voice heard, participate in the conversation

Local and national events are great opportunities to express your concerns about healthcare services as well as the health of the community.

 

Take action:

 

Talkback to the media: FAIR- contact information, FAIR-communicating with journalists

Congress.org- respond to editorials, blogs, articles  

 

Share with friends and neighbors

 

Share your knowledge and passion with your family, friends, colleagues, neighbors

 

Organize a house gathering

 

Share your story with us

Have a form for uploading

Your personal experience with health care issues, your memories of loved ones with the disease, can fuel change in Washington. Share your story with us, and we'll make sure your lawmakers take the time to listen.

We're collecting your stories to highlight the challenges and potential solutions that will make our healthcare better.

 

See the example of letter/form

 

Tell a Friend
 

Organize and run a local meeting about health care and advocate for needed changes in the local and national healthcare institutions.

Start or join a house meeting to discuss how to improve health care.

Identify and collaborate with individuals and groups who share your vision.

             

Start a petition             

 

Get involved with the local stakeholders

Improving the health of your community will require collaboration with the various individuals and organizations that play a role in providing services.

 

Take action:     

Take action to engage the stakeholders: The County Health Rankings Project

Search the organizations report to learn more about their activities:  Guidestar

           

Contact leaders at the healthcare institutions: Citizens4health

 

Reach out to the healthcare leaders

 

For each suggested activity,

Research the mission of healthcare stakeholders in your community hold them accountable for their goals

Meet with leaders of healthcare institutions in your community

Find out about the board meetings

Send a letter to board members

Send a letter to the CEO of the hospital           

Check out our list of questions to ask, including:

Who is active in these organizations?

How is the quality of services?

Who has access to these services?

 

Demand transperence and accountability 
 

Work with regulators -- become a watchdog. If you have a complaint about the quality of the medical care you or a loved one received at a hospital, first contact your hospital's patient advocate. Inform regulatory agencies of any wrongdoing or your concerns about the healthcare services provided in your. Contact politicians and regulatory agencies.  

 

Take action:     

  • Demand accountability and transparency: Citizens4health

  • Public reporting best practice

  • Contact regulatory agencies: Medicare  , State Insurance Departments , The Joint Commission , Medicare Fraud and Abuse

  • Start a petition: Citizens4health

  • Having the health care services that meet your needs

  • Understand the health care system and resources available for you

  • Learn about how to make your healthcare institutions optimal

  • Advocate for services needed in the community and are accountable

  • Identify stake holders in your health care environment

 

Check up for your local health care team

1. Primary care doctor

2. Specialists

3. Emergency room

4. Hospital

5. Nursing home and long term care

6. Pharmacy

7. Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

 

Making your environment healthy

 

Learn about Optimal Health Care in your environment

Identify needed public involvement to provide a safe environment for Optimal Health

Learn where your community is ranked

Provide a link for information about health care in you area

Assessment of My Health Care Environment: link to community assessment  

 

Give your hospital a check up 

 

The purpose of the hospital checkup is to make all hospitals top hospitals. You will get information from reliable public reporting site about the patient safety and quality of YOUR hospital so that you can contribute to make the change needed to make it the best. We are currently building a database driven program that will provide a check up for all US hospitals. Contact us to learn more about our plans. Until our database is public you can do your own hospital checkup with our survey.

 

When you need emergency medical care it is too late to make the hospital safer. Give My Hospital a Checkup helps you learn the safety record of the hospital and what it is doing to keep you, your family and your neighbors safe. Our goal is to make sure the care at all hospitals is the best it can be for everyone.

 

Give My Hospital a Checkup is a brief, 10-15 minute web based survey that helps you gather publicly available information about the performance of “your” hospital. Unlike many other hospital rating sites, our goal is to make all hospital top hospitals. Give My Hospital a Checkup includes information about the quality of care as well as the public reporting of hospital performance. When you complete the checkup you will be provided suggestions (“treatment plan”) how to take action to improve the medical services provided by the hospitals as well as how to get the best care for yourself.

 

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