The EvidenceNOW Model for supporting primary care practice improvement originated from a multiyear Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) grant initiative designed to advance the adoption of clinical and organizational evidence in small- and medium-sized primary care practices. AHRQ seeks to spread the EvidenceNOW Model by sharing carefully selected tools and resources used in EvidenceNOW and other quality improvement (QI) initiatives. EvidenceNOW Tools for Change can help primary care practices, as well as practice facilitators and others who support practices, make changes to build their capacity to engage in quality improvement and implement the best evidence. Those interested in practice improvement can also attend the Setting the Foundation for Teamwork in Your Practice using the AHRQ TeamSTEPPS session during the PACHC Annual Conference & Clinical Summit. You will learn how to form a change team to lead teamwork efforts as well as how to assess your environment for strengths, barriers, and readiness for change.

Students in a health profession training program can apply to participate in a new two-year competitive AHEC Scholars program. Pennsylvania’s Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is starting with a 2019-2021 cohort of students to receive additional didactic and interprofessional clinical experiences as they learn more about urban and rural underserved health. Read more and find the application on the AHEC Scholar website.

Healthy young adults with no history of medical problems are showing up in hospital emergency departments short of breath, coughing and needing oxygen to be pumped into their lungs. Vaping or e-cigarettes have now been linked to 215 cases of severe lung illness in 25 states, including Pennsylvania. Read more.

There’s a “reasonable chance” the United States will lose its measles elimination status in October because of ongoing measles outbreaks in New York, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. When the World Health Organization declared in 2000 that the U.S. had eliminated measles, it was hailed as one of the biggest public health achievements in the nation’s history.

A new study, led by researchers of the Mayo Clinic and reported in the Journal of Health Affairs, finds that the majority of U.S. physicians now support the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Physicians see the ACA as a “net positive” for the U.S. health care system, according to the study. The study shows an 11% upward swing in physician opinion about the ACA over five years.  Most major physician groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Physicians have opposed efforts by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to derail the ACA.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is moving deeper into the primary care and mental health market, opening a new clinic called Walmart Health in Georgia. The company recently updated its website with a link to Walmart Health and also went online with the site “Walmarthealth.com,” where patients can set up appointments. Walmart is testing the concept with this initial clinic that will give patients access to comprehensive and low-cost primary care, including for mental health issues. The website indicates that the company will offer primary care, dental, counseling, labs, X-rays and audiology, among other services. Walmart is already one of the largest pharmacy companies in the U.S., offering in-store sections for prescription drugs in almost all of its 4,700 locations across the U.S. The company said health and wellness, which includes pharmacy, clinical and optical services, accounted for about 9%, or $36 billion, of its roughly $332 billion in U.S. sales last fiscal year. Walmart’s distinct opportunity is that roughly 140 million people visit its stores every week, and it has about 1.5 million U.S. employees spread across cities of all sizes, including in rural areas where there’s a shortage of health-care services.

Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana in 2016, allowing it to be used to treat 17 medical conditions. That list has now grown to include 23 conditions. Eligible conditions now include anxiety disorder, ALS, autism, cancer, Crohn’s disease, damage to nervous tissue of the spinal cord, dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Huntington’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, intractable seizures, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, neuropathies, opioid use disorder, Parkinson’s, PTSD, severe chronic or intractable pain, sickle cell anemia, terminal illness and Tourette syndrome. Someone with one of the conditions must have it certified by a doctor who is state-approved to obtain a card enabling them to buy medical marijuana at a medical marijuana dispensary.