Building Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Into the Fabric of a New Medical School: Early Experiences of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

In July 2020, the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine opened in Pasadena, California, with an inaugural class of 50 students. The school endeavors to address systemic barriers that have contributed to health care and educational disparities in the United States. To realize its vision for change, equity, inclusion, and diversity (EID) have been woven throughout the school. Board members were chosen in part based on their commitment to the core values of EID. The board developed mission, vision, and values statements that explicitly avow a commitment to EID and recruited a dean (and the dean recruited leaders) who espoused and evinced these values. Leaders, faculty, and staff received training to foster an inclusive environment and ensure accountability. The school developed a curriculum that has been thoroughly evaluated for its representative and inclusive content by a team drawn from all departments. The diverse first class, selected through a holistic admissions approach, has access to student support systems that emphasize an appreciation of the distinct experiences and context of each student. The school plans a rigorous evaluation program to assess its performance in EID. Although the school may well fall short of achieving all of its EID objectives, by learning from its experiences and from evidence of others in academic medicine, the school recognizes its opportunity to continue to come closer to achieving its goals and to help shape and contribute to the national and international discourse on EID.

Impact of Telehealth on Health Economics.

As part of an efficient, continuously improving care delivery system, telehealth can increase patient engagement by creating new or additional ways of communicating with patients' physicians. Telehealth has the potential to increase patient and primary care provider access to specialists, provide specialist support to rural providers, assist with on-going monitoring and support for patients with chronic conditions, and reduce health care expenses by maximizing the use of specialists without the need to duplicate coverage in multiple locations. Current and future physicians will need to develop competencies that will enable them to navigate this new telehealth landscape.

Managing Comorbid Illness in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: What Can We Learn from Other Diseases?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with numerous comorbid medical conditions. Symptoms of OSA may mimic those of comorbid conditions. The presence of OSA may worsen outcomes from the primary condition. Conversely, OSA treatment may benefit both sleep symptomatology and comorbid illness. Because of potential significant benefit, it is important to screen for sleep apnea symptoms, to have a low threshold to perform diagnostic testing, to treat OSA if present, and to closely monitor symptoms. OSA management does not necessarily replace, but rather, should be performed in conjunction with primary therapy for comorbid conditions.

Interventions to improve outcomes for minority adults with asthma: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the literature to characterize interventions with potential to improve outcomes for minority patients with asthma. DATA SOURCES: Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Trial Databases, expert review, reference review, meeting abstracts. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTEVENTIONS: Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms related to asthma were combined with terms to identify intervention studies focused on minority populations. INCLUSION CRITERIA: adult population; intervention studies with majority of non-White participants. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS OF METHODS: Study quality was assessed using Downs and Black (DB) checklists. We examined heterogeneity of studies through comparing study population, study design, intervention characteristics, and outcomes. RESULTS: Twenty-four articles met inclusion criteria. Mean quality score was 21.0. Study populations targeted primarily African American (n = 14), followed by Latino/a (n = 4), Asian Americans (n = 1), or a combination of the above (n = 5). The most commonly reported post-intervention outcome was use of health care resources, followed by symptom control and self-management skills. The most common intervention-type studied was patient education. Although less-than half were culturally tailored, language-appropriate education appeared particularly successful. Several system-level interventions focused on specialty clinics with promising findings, although health disparities collaboratives did not have similarly promising results. LIMITATIONS: Publication bias may limit our findings; we were unable to perform a meta-analysis limiting the review's quantitative evaluation. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF KEY FINDINGS: Overall, education delivered by health care professionals appeared effective in improving outcomes for minority patients with asthma. Few were culturally tailored and one included a comparison group, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn from cultural tailoring. System-redesign showed great promise, particularly the use of team-based specialty clinics and long-term follow-up after acute care visits. Future research should evaluate the role of tailoring educational strategies, focus on patient-centered education, and incorporate outpatient follow-up and/or a team-based approach.

Prevalence, clinical features, and CPAP adherence in REM-related sleep-disordered breathing: a cross-sectional analysis of a large clinical population.

PURPOSE: Due to inconsistent definitions used in the literature, the prevalence of rapid eye movement (REM)-related sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has been quite variable and its clinical significance remains unclear. This study aimed to compare the prevalence of and clinical characteristics between various criteria for defining REM-related SDB. We also investigated how frequently CPAP therapy was recommended in patients with REM-related SDB and if they had lower CPAP adherence compared to non-stage-specific SDB. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated 1,019 consecutive adults referred for a polysomnogram for suspicion of SDB. The prevalence of REM-related SDB was calculated based on "traditional criteria" commonly reported in the literature and a "strict criteria" that minimized the contribution of SDB during non-REM sleep. RESULTS: The prevalence of REM-related SDB ranged from 13.5% to 36.7%. There were no clinically significant differences between the strict definition and the traditional definition of REM-related SDB. REM-related SDB was more prevalent in women, younger individuals and African Americans. Compared to non-stage-specific obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), patients with REM-related SDB were equally symptomatic and hypersomnolent. CPAP titration was recommended in 88% of patients with REM-related SDB vs. 94% of patients with non-stage-specific OSA (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in CPAP adherence between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of how REM-related SDB is defined, it was highly prevalent in our large clinical cohort. Compared to non-stage-specific OSA, these patients were equally hypersomnolent and adherent to CPAP therapy despite having overall significantly milder OSA. Further research is needed to better establish whether these patients will derive any benefit from long-term CPAP therapy.

The Chicago Breathe Project: a regional approach to improving education on asthma inhalers for resident physicians and minority patients.

BACKGROUND: Asthma affects minority citizens in Chicago disproportionately. Policy changes introducing hydrofluroalkane (HFA) inhalers may worsen already-existing health disparities related to asthma. AIMS: To teach internal medicine residents about the transition to HFAs so they can better counsel their patients on asthma self-management. To provide minority community members with interactive educational sessions. SETTING: Internal medicine residents at 5 Chicago programs. Community workshops in primarily Spanish-speaking (Cicero) Latino population and a primarily African American population from the south side of Chicago. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The Chicago Breathe Project provides residents with education and tools necessary to counsel patients with asthma on inhaler use and provides minority community members with interactive educational sessions on asthma and inhaler use. PROGRAM EVALUATION: Eleven workshops were held across 5 academic institutions, with a total of 161 residents. Resident knowledge regarding HFA inhalers improved dramatically (5% pre vs. 91% post, p < .001). Six months post education, residents were more likely to assess inhaler technique (44% vs. 11%, p = .046) and discuss new HFA inhalers (69% vs. 24%, p = .011) with their asthma patients. Community members provided feedback after the workshops that they would come again, found the session helpful ,and enjoyed the session. DISCUSSION: The Chicago Breathe Project resulted in improved resident knowledge and skill on inhaler use during HFA transition. Regional educational approaches targeting internal medicine residencies in urban areas may be helpful to address future changes in chronic disease management. This training can be taken into minority communities to provide high-quality interactive educational workshops directly to patients and their families.