Later in September, Pennsylvania will recognize “Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now Week” by making free Naloxone available at 95 location across the state. The free Naloxone will be available on two days while supplies last: Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm, and Wednesday, Sept. 25, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.  Click here for a list of the locations.  Other commonwealth opioid use disorder activities and progress:

• Through a standing order, Naloxone, used to reverse an overdose caused by an opioid by blocking the effects of opioids on the brain, is available to any Pennsylvanian through pharmacies across the commonwealth for anyone who may need it
• According to the state Department of Health, more than 25,000 people have been revived with Naloxone by police officers and EMS providers in Pennsylvania since November 2014
• In December 2018, the commonwealth distributed over 5,000 naloxone kits across Pennsylvania
• Gov. Wolf announced in August that opioid related overdose deaths have decreased by 18 percent over the past 12 months
• Gov. Wolf this week announced another renewal of the state opioid disaster declaration, the seventh one since he first made the declaration on Jan. 10, 2018

Technical Assistance for Hospitals Applying to the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model—a CMMI-Sponsored Rural Hospital Global Budget Model – Rural hospitals, interested in participating in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, participated in a rapid cycle process to develop plans to transition from being volume-oriented to focusing on community health, facilitated by a global budget. This brief summarizes Rural Health Value’s process to facilitate hospital development of a transition plan for those considering developing or participating in a global budget or other transformation models for rural hospitals.

See document here.

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.