Integrating Primary Care Into Assertive Community Treatment.

OBJECTIVE: This program evaluation examined integration of primary care nurse practitioners into assertive community treatment (ACT). METHODS: From January to June 2019, primary care nurse practitioners in a postgraduate fellowship program were assigned to five ACT teams (N=305 participants). Focus groups explored staff members' and participants' experiences. Screening rates for hemoglobin A1c and cholesterol for ACT participants were compared over time. RESULTS: Staff and participants in ACT described improved engagement in primary care, citing benefit from colocation and consultation. Field visits were not found to be an efficient use of the primary care nurse practitioners' time to serve most ACT participants. A significant increase in screening was observed after 6 months for the ACT teams with integrated primary care. CONCLUSIONS: An integrated primary care nurse practitioner readily available for participant engagement and consultation with the ACT team, using a cardiometabolic registry to guide care, may offer a sustainable model of integration.

Patient Factors Associated with Extended Length of Stay in the Psychiatric Inpatient Units of a Large Urban County Hospital.

This case-control study identified patient-specific factors associated with the longest psychiatric inpatient lengths of stay (LOS) at a large urban county hospital. Subjects with LOS ≥ 60 days comprised the extended LOS (ELOS) case cohort. An equally-sized control cohort consisted of a random sample of inpatients with LOS ≤ 30 days. Chi square tests and t tests were conducted to determine differences between groups. Factors associated with ELOS included older age, cognitive impairment, higher number of medical conditions requiring medication, and violence during hospital stay. Initiatives focused on community placement of patients with these characteristics may reduce prolonged LOS at safety-net hospitals.

Developing a novel Poverty in Healthcare curriculum for medical students at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Nearly 90 million Americans live below 200% of the federal poverty threshold. The links between lower socioeconomic status and poor health are clear, and all physicians face the resulting challenges in patient care. Current medical school curricula do not adequately prepare students to address this issue despite recommendations from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Institute of Medicine. In response, students and faculty at the University of Michigan Medical Center established the Poverty in Healthcare curriculum, which encompasses required learning experiences spanning all four years of undergraduate medical education. This article describes the design and implementation of this curriculum. The authors provide thorough descriptions of the individual learning experiences, including community site visits, longitudinal cases, mini-electives, and family centered experiences. The authors also discuss the history, costs, challenges, and evaluation process related to the Poverty in Healthcare curriculum, including issues specifically related to medical students' involvement in developing and implementing the curriculum. This information may be used as a guide for other medical schools in the development of curricula to address this current gap in medical student education.