Since 2017, Hawai'i has had a statute requiring health plans to update their provider directories at least monthly. However, the results of this study suggest that despite this regulation, errors in physician directories may be an ongoing problem. Using publicly available online Medicaid physician directories from Med-QUEST, Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), AlohaCare, 'Ohana Health Plan, and United Healthcare, 473 unique listings for dermatologists were reviewed and 411 (86.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Control (Woodbridge)
January 2024
Charting a course to achieve cancer prevention and control in several sovereign Pacific Island nations and US Pacific Island Territories has been a challenging and dynamic process. Partners and stakeholders from these communities have developed the infrastructure to achieve cancer control in the region. This narrative is about the Pacific Cancer Control voyagers in the region, who they are, where they hope to go, and the voyaging canoe on which they journey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedical education in the US has contributed to institutionalized racism through historically exclusionary practices, which has led to health disparities and inequities in health care today. The 1910 Flexner report, which favored schools with greater resources, led to the closure of nearly half of medical schools in the Us, which were mostly small schools located in rural communities that served economically disadvantaged, ethnic minority, and female populations. Closing these schools ultimately limited the availability of physicians willing to serve disadvantaged and minority populations in impoverished and underserved communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening among eligible adults, but information on screening use in the US territories is limited.
Methods: To estimate the proportion of adults up-to-date with breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening based on USPSTF recommendations, we analyzed Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 2016, 2018, and 2020 for the 50 US states and DC (US) and US territories of Guam and Puerto Rico and from 2016 for the US Virgin Islands. Age-standardized weighted proportions for up-to-date cancer screening were examined overall and by select characteristics for each jurisdiction.
Hawaii J Health Soc Welf
November 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic increased stress and worry among faculty and staff members at universities across the US. To assess the well-being of university faculty and staff, a survey was administered at a medical school in the state of Hawai'i during early fall 2020. The purpose of the exploratory study was to assess and gauge faculty and staff members' well-being regarding the school's response to COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective/hypothesis: Oral cancers in the US-affiliated Pacific Islands are poorly described despite disproportionately higher incidences in certain jurisdictions. This study attempts to better characterize the incidence, staging, and management of oral cancers in this region.
Study Design: Retrospective Epidemiological Study.
Hawai'i's Pacific Islander (PI) population has suffered a higher burden of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, hospitalizations, and deaths compared to other groups in the state. The Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency Community Care Outreach Unit conducted an assessment across the state to gain an understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and social welfare of households. Survey data was collected from individuals across the state during a period of 3 weeks (August 12-September 5, 2020).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHawai'i's Filipino community has been deeply impacted by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This article reports the findings for the Filipino population from the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) Community Care Outreach Unit (CCO) Unit evaluation assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the health and social welfare of individuals across the state. The survey was conducted from August-September 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNative Hawaiians (NHs) are among the most vulnerable groups at greater risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To understand the impact of COVID-19 on the state's population, a 35-question cross-sectional survey was administered across the state of Hawai'i. NH data from the larger report are provided here.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Community Care Outreach Unit of the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) Medical/Public Heath Branch conducted a survey to gauge the impact, needs, and threats to the health and social welfare of individuals and their families pertaining to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This article presents key findings for the County of Maui (MC) in the state. A mixed-methods framework was utilized for survey distribution and recruitment of participants from across the state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency Community Care Outreach Unit (CCO) conducted a survey to gauge the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the health and social welfare of individuals and their families across the state of Hawai'i. A mixed-methods framework was utilized for survey distribution. This article presents a descriptive analysis of the data to provide a basic overview of the impact of COVID-19 in Kaua'i County (KC), as assessed in August/September 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Community Care Outreach Unit (CCO) of the Hawai'i Emergency Management Medical/Public Health Services Branch conducted a survey to gauge the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the health and social welfare of individuals and families in the state of Hawai'i. A mixed-methods framework was utilized for survey distribution; 7927 respondents participated in the survey. This article presents key findings for the state's Hawai'i County (HC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo address the impact of COVID-19 in the state of Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency Medical Public Health Branch activated its' Community Care Outreach Unit (CCO Unit). A team from this unit developed a survey to assess the impact, needs, and threats to the health and social welfare of individuals and their families as they pertain to COVID-19. This article presents key findings for the City and County of Honolulu (CCH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on the world. To address the impact of COVID-19 in the state of Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) Community Care Outreach Unit conducted an assessment survey to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the health and social welfare of individuals and their families across the state. This article presents key statewide findings from this assessment, including areas of need and community-based recommendations to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic, particularly for vulnerable groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth and social service organizations across Hawai'i were surveyed between April 29 and May 11, 2020 by the Community Care Outreach Unit of the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency. This article contextualizes and describes some of the major findings of that survey that reveal the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Hawai'i community agencies, service organizations, and the individuals they serve. Major issues for individuals served by the responding organizations included securing basic needs such as food and housing as well as access to health services, mental health needs, and COVID-19 concerns (such as inadequate personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, quarantine, and testing issues).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe costs of cancer registration have previously been estimated for registries in the continental United States and many international registries; however, to date, there has been no economic assessment of population-based registries in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands. This study estimates the costs and factors affecting the operations of US-Affiliated Pacific Island population-based cancer registries. The web-based International Registry Costing Tool1 was used to collect costs, resources used, cancer cases processed, and other registry characteristics from the Pacific Regional Central Cancer Registry (PRCCR), Federated States of Micronesia National Cancer Registry, and nine satellite jurisdictional registries within the US Pacific Islands.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Non-invasive, self-collection sampling methods for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA detection have the potential to address logistical and cultural barriers to Pap screening, particularly in under resourced settings such as Yap state in the Federated States of Micronesia - a population with low levels of screening and high incidence of cervical cancer.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted among adult women in Yap to compare cervical HPV DNA in self-collected urine and clinician-collected liquid cytology. Adult women aged 21-65 (n=217) were randomized by the order of sample collection.
Introduction: In the early 1990s, a comprehensive cancer control (CCC) approach was developed in the United States (US). In 2003, the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) adopted the CCC approach through a regional coalition, the Cancer Council of the Pacific Islands (CCPI). Using the CCC approach, the CCPI developed jurisdiction-specific cancer coalitions and initiated their respective cancer plans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe United States Affiliated Pacific Island Jurisdictions (USAPIJ) are politically associated to the United States (US) as US Territories (Guam, American Samoa), a US Commonwealth (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), and as sovereign nations linked to the US through Compacts of Free Association [Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Republic of Palau (ROP)]. Cervical cancer incidence in the RMI is the highest in the world, mammography services are not available in the FSM and only Guam has on-island oncology services. Cancer risk factors such as obesity, tobacco, and Hepatitis B are prevalent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cervical cancer incidence in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPIs) is double that of the US mainland. American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam and the Republic of Palau receive funding from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) to implement cervical cancer screening to low-income, uninsured or under insured women. The USAPI grantees report data on screening and follow-up activities to the CDC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Successful cervical cancer screening in the United States-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) is limited by geographic, political, economic, and logistic factors. An expert panel convened to examine screening in each of the 6 island jurisdictions and to explore options beyond cytology-based screening.
Materials And Methods: Forty-one representatives of American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology, government agencies, the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization, health representatives of the 6 Pacific island jurisdictions, Puerto Rico, and several academic institutions met in a 2-day meeting to explore options to improve access and coverage of cervical cancer screening in the USAPI.
Hawaii J Med Public Health
April 2012
Background: Access to care for patients in Hawai'i is compromised by a significant primary care workforce shortage. Not only are there not enough primary care providers, they are often not practicing in locations of high need such as rural areas on the neighbor islands or in the Pacific.
Methods: This study used geographic information systems (GIS) spatial analysis to look at practice locations for 86 University of Hawai'i Family Medicine and Community Health graduates from 1993 to the 2010.