FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 4, 2007
CONTACT: Nancy Strassel
(513) 531-0200

MAJOR REGIONAL CHRONIC ILLNESS CARE IMPROVEMENT EFFORT
APPOINTS CHAIR TO LEAD GROUNDBREAKING WORK
ON ENGAGING CONSUMERS IN QUALITY HEALTH CARE
Effort Part of Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality: A Regional Market Project

Dave Palm, president and COO of the National Speaking of Women’s Health Foundation, has been appointed chair of the Consumer Engagement Workgroup, a critical part of Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality (CAF4Q), a broad-based effort that aims to improve the quality of care that those with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, asthma, depression and heart disease, receive in the Cincinnati area.

The Consumer Engagement Workgroup will help to educate patients about what it means to receive “best practices” care for their chronic condition and provide tools to assist them. The effort will also provide support for patients to better “self-manage” their own care. Research shows that those seeking care for many common chronic conditions get best-practices care only about half the time.

“Diabetes care is our first area of focus,” Palm said. “We are currently talking directly with individuals with diabetes to better understand their perceptions about their own quality of care. From that research, led by consumer research experts at Procter and Gamble, we hope to fashion messages that will resonate with other diabetes patients in order to drive behavior change, both for them and for providers to whom they entrust their care.”

“This is groundbreaking work,” said Craig Brammer, senior research associate at the University of Cincinnati and project director for CAF4Q. “There is not a lot of work that has been done in our community about how consumers gauge the quality of care they receive and about how to talk with consumers about quality. We are pleased to have someone with Dave’s expertise and commitment leading this exciting part of the Aligning Forces effort.”

In February, Cincinnati was selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as one of 14 regional health care markets prepared to accelerate improvement of care for chronically ill patients following a rigorous competitive process. Cincinnati Aligning Forces is a project of the Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati. CAF4Q pulls together consumer groups, health plans, physicians, employers, federally qualified health centers, the regional health information network (HealthBridge) and others in a coordinated effort that will provide tools, data and infrastructure that can be used by all to improve care.

Mr. Palm joined Speaking of Women’s Health as chief operating officer in June 2005. Prior to that, Palm served as vice president of Education for Fifth Third Bancorp, overseeing the assessment, development and delivery of education and career development for more than 20,000 employees. He was also associate vice president of Training and Development for LensCrafters. He has extensive experience with E-learning and the Internet, and holds a Master’s degree in Education, focused on adult learning.

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