Improving Community Health While Satisfying a Critical Community Need: A Case Study for Nonprofit Hospitals.

Background: School-based student health screenings identify issues that may affect physical and intellectual development and are an important way to maintain student health. Nonprofit hospitals can provide a unique resource to school districts by assisting in the timely completion of school-based screenings and meet requirements of the Affordable Care Act. This case study describes the collaboration between an academic medical center and a local school district to conduct school-based health screenings.

Effects of a web-based patient activation intervention to overcome clinical inertia on blood pressure control: cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Only approximately half of patients with hypertension have their blood pressure controlled, due in large part to the tendency of primary care providers (PCPs) not to intensify treatment when blood pressure values are elevated.

Objective: This study tested the effect of an intervention designed to help patients ask questions at the point of care to encourage PCPs to appropriately intensify blood pressure treatment.

Methods: PCPs and their patients with hypertension (N=500) were recruited by letter and randomized into 2 study groups: (1) intervention condition in which patients used a fully automated website each month to receive tailored messages suggesting questions to ask their PCP to improve blood pressure control, and (2) control condition in which a similar tool suggested questions to ask about preventive services (eg, cancer screening).

Efficacy of a weight-loss website based on positive deviance. A randomized trial.

Background: Web-based interventions for weight control could promote more-widespread dissemination of weight-loss opportunities; however, they remain limited in effectiveness. Incorporating weight-control practices used by individuals with long-term weight-loss success ("positive deviants") may improve the efficacy of web-based weight control interventions.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of AchieveTogether, a web-based weight-loss intervention for adults based on user-generated weight-loss strategies from successful weight losers.

Practices associated with weight loss versus weight-loss maintenance results of a national survey.

Background: Few studies have examined the weight-control practices that promote weight loss and weight-loss maintenance in the same sample.

Purpose: To examine whether the weight control practices associated with weight loss differ from those associated with weight-loss maintenance.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 1165 U.

A web-based patient activation intervention to improve hypertension care: study design and baseline characteristics in the web hypertension study.

Background: Despite the known health risks of hypertension, many hypertensive patients still have uncontrolled blood pressure. Clinical inertia, the tendency of physicians not to intensify treatment, is a common barrier in controlling chronic diseases. This trial is aimed at determining the impact of activating patients to ask providers to make changes to their care through tailored feedback.