AAHD is now partnering with Patients for Patient Safety to inform their disability engagement on a new initiative. Our Executive Director, Karl Cooper, will be participating in Project PIVOT (Patients Involved in deVeloping Outcomes Together). This initiative is a participatory project to determine the most effective measures for gauging critical patient safety measures in healthcare. The project is focused on key populations including older adults, mothers of color, and people with disabilities. By connecting patients and families with healthcare system stakeholders and researchers, Project PIVOT aims to improve health outcomes for the most vulnerable patients in our health system. AAHD will provide patient expertise and leadership to support the priority-population committee engaging patients with disabilities.
Over the next year, this initiative will create a system to build patient health concerns into surveys and other research tools that ensure quality care for all. This project aims to examine outcomes like whether patients are receiving accurate diagnoses and timely care, and offers a pathway for uncovering bias in healthcare delivery. Especially for patients with disabilities, research has shown that disability discrimination is a common barrier to care for patients. With proper quality measures in place, care delivery can be better provided for all. By improving and expanding reporting, like the HCAHPS Survey on Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, patient experiences can be made public to incentivize accountability. Patient-reported measures are an important tool for advancing population health.
Project PIVOT is partially funded by an award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI award EASCS-34604).