"It Becomes a Family I'm a Part of…We Get to Carry Each Other": Themes from Qualitative Interview of Patients Enrolled in an Inpatient Palliative Care Support Program for Adolescents and Young Adults.

The pediatric palliative care literature provides little evidence regarding the lived experiences of adolescents and young adults (AYAs). We sought to evaluate the aspects of a palliative care peer support program, which were most helpful to patients, and identify areas for improvement to better address their psychosocial needs. This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study, which described self-reported Streetlight program evaluation using thematic analysis of interviews with AYAs.

Patients' Views About Patient Engagement and Representation in Healthcare Governance.

Health systems increasingly engage with patient representatives on their governance boards or with patient and family advisory councils to improve care delivery. Little is known about how general patients regard those engagement activities. The objective of this study was to assess the importance of patient representation.

Association of a Care Coordination Model With Health Care Costs and Utilization: The Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership (J-CHiP).

Importance: The Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership was created to improve care coordination across the continuum in East Baltimore, Maryland.

Objective: To determine whether the Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership (J-CHiP) was associated with improved outcomes and lower spending.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Nonrandomized acute care intervention (ACI) and community intervention (CI) Medicare and Medicaid participants were analyzed in a quality improvement study using difference-in-differences designs with propensity score-weighted and matched comparison groups.

Strategic Review Process for an Accountable Care Organization and Emerging Accountable Care Best Practices.

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), like other care entities, must be strategic about which initiatives they support in the quest for higher value. This article reviews the current strategic planning process for the Johns Hopkins Medicine Alliance for Patients (JMAP), a Medicare Shared Savings Program Track 1 ACO. It reviews the 3 focus areas for the 2017 strategic review process - (1) optimizing care coordination for complex, at-risk patients, (2) post-acute care, and (3) specialty care integration - reviewing cost savings and quality improvement opportunities, associated best practices from the literature, and opportunities to leverage and advance existing ACO and health system efforts in each area.

Bringing central line-associated bloodstream infection prevention home: catheter maintenance practices and beliefs of pediatric oncology patients and families.

Background: A study was conducted to investigate (1) the extent to which best-practice central line maintenance practices were employed in the homes of pediatric oncology patients and by whom, (2) caregiver beliefs about central line care and central line-associated blood stream infection (CLABSI) risk, (3) barriers to optimal central line care by families, and (4) educational experiences and preferences regarding central line care.

Methods: Researchers administered a survey to patients and families in a tertiary care pediatric oncology clinic that engaged in rigorous ambulatory and inpatient CLABSI prevention efforts.

Results: Of 110 invited patients and caregivers, 105 participated (95% response rate) in the survey (March-May 2012).