August 2005 RAM Campaign Newsletter
Want the latest news on what is happening with Remaking American Medicine? Each month the RAM Campaign Newsletter features stories about the latest things happening with local coalitions, the campaign and the production series. All previous RAM Campaign Newsletters are available here.
Download the PDF Version of this issue here.
Production News
Crosskeys Media® continues to film stories across the country. Here is a quick update by program:
- Program One – "The Hospital" --- The film crew will be covering stories that focus on information technology at Hackensack University Medical Center. They will also be taping stories on patient and family-centered care at the Medical College of Georgia.
- Program Two – "Chronic Disease" --- In Los Angeles, the production team will be focusing on diabetes and returning to Louisiana for a story on quality improvement for patients with congestive heart disease.
- Program Three – "Community by Community" --- The team will be following the efforts of Pittsburgh hospitals to stop the spread of infections.
- Program Four – "Champions of Change" --- Filming is taking place at Johns Hopkins Medical Center with a focus on culture change and the producers are documenting the roll out of Rapid Response Teams in Pittsburgh.
Campaign News
National Partner Subcommittees Have Begun Their Work
In July the Coalition and Media Relations/Promotion Subcommittees held their first meetings. A number of Partners have stepped forward to lend their time and expertise to these two Subcommittees as well as the National Symposium group. The Subcommittees will continue to meet on a bi-monthly basis.
Here’s a brief update on their respective activities.
Coalition Subcommittee
Carolyn Pare, CEO of Buyers Health Care Action Group and Marc Boutin, VP, policy development & advocacy at the National Health Council have agreed to Co-Chair this Subcommittee, which met on July 20. There was considerable discussion about how to provide additional guidance and support to RAM coalitions. The group felt that patient-family centered care should be a driving force within coalitions because it is one of the underlying themes of the series. It was decided that a “White Paper” should be created that would encourage coalitions to focus their activities in that area. The Subcommittee has also agreed to provide assistance in expanding the coalition base throughout the country.
Media Relations/Promotion Subcommittee
The role of this Subcommittee, which met on July 27, is to provide media relations and promotional advice, consultation and in-kind support to the national campaign. Members will help craft and refine message points, review promotional materials to make sure they resonate with target audiences, identify key health care journalists, and help recruit national spokespersons. Members have also volunteered to provide Spanish translation of media relations materials and promotional brochures.
Gillian Ray, communications director, National Association for Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions will Co-Chair the Subcommittee.
Please contact Barbara Lohman at DCI if you wish to join any of these Subcommittees.
Coalition Development
We continue to seek your support by encouraging your members, affiliates and constituents to join a local RAM coalition. (There are now 34 coalitions across the country).
Turnkey promotional materials are available to help tell this story through your internal publications and on your Web sites. (See Promotional Tools below.) The easiest way to get your members involved is to suggest they log on to www.RAMcampaign.org and click on the Connect with Others database. The Leadership Guide is another excellent resource. It is available on RAMcampaign.org in PDF and interactive formats. All the basics for forming a coalition are contained in the Guide.
Many of the RAM coalitions have the support of Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) and PBS stations. They are hoping to expand by working with local members/constituents of our National Partners.
Here are two more examples of RAM coalitions:
New Jersey Network (NJN)
Trenton, NJ
Based on research from the New Jersey Collaborative Center for Nursing of Rutgers University, New Jersey will be suffering a nursing shortage of 43% by 2020. New Jersey Public Television & Radio, working with the Healthcare Quality Improvement Organization of New Jersey and their coalition, will stimulate a statewide dialogue on the nursing shortage.
As part of their outreach campaign, NJN will host a community forum that includes medical professionals, nursing education leaders, consumers and policy makers. The goal is to discuss and suggest solutions to the nursing shortage problem as well as in related health care fields.
NJN plans to hold screenings of Remaking American Medicine for health care professionals and the public at the Hackensack University Medical Center, The Robert Wood Johnson® headquarters and the Cooper Medical Center in Camden. These will be followed by a panel discussion focusing on the shortage of nursing and health care professionals.
NJN will also address this issue in their nightly news program, Healthwatch, and produce segments highlighting best practices that will appear on NJN News that also airs on WNET/New York.
We encourage you to get involved.
South Carolina ETV
Columbia, SC
In response to South Carolina’s majority rural population and its residents, which are nearly leading the nation in percentages of chronic diseases, the primary goal of the SCETV campaign will be to educate the public, and senior citizens in particular, on this important issue.
SCETV’s coalition includes Carolina Medical Review, the Quality Improvement Organization that serves both North and South Carolina, the local chapter of AARP, the South Carolina Hospital Association, the South Carolina Medical Association and others. The station plans to produce a town hall meeting recognizing Champions of Change and health care features to be broadcast on Clemson University’s daily program entitled At Home, Southern Style.
Community involvement activities will include presentations at fall medical conferences, workshops for senior citizens and a Remaking American Medicine event on Senior Citizen Day at the South Carolina State Fair.
We hope you will ask your members to work with South Caroline ETV.
Coalition “Hot Tips”
This month we are launching “Hot Tips” for RAM coalition leaders. These brief E-Alerts will feature ideas that can be easily replicated in coalitions across the country. In each case we will refer you to individuals who are undertaking exciting, creative and cost effective activities. The first “Hot Tip” will feature the work of the Missouri coalition, led by Primaris, the QIO and KCTS, the St. Louis PBS station. Keep an eye out for it!
Promotional Tools
We would like to call your attention once again to promotional tools and resources available to National Partners, PBS stations, QIOs and others involved in this campaign. All the essential tools you will need to start a coalition and conduct effective outreach can be found in these documents.
RAM Leadership Guide
The goal of Remaking American Medicine is to stimulate a nationwide public dialogue about health care quality and to issue a call to action, community by community. One of the most important methods in communicating the call to action will be through the active involvement and support of local coalitions.
The Remaking American Medicine Leadership Guide was designed to serve as an informational and organizational tool that will support this important grassroots initiative. It is meant to help community-based coalitions at all stages of development. It includes recommendations on how to conduct an assessment of local quality improvement initiatives that should provide a focus for each group and provides suggestions for a range of outreach activities working in collaboration with PBS stations.
The Guide also contains background information on two specific issues that will be addressed in the series: patient/family-centered care and chronic care. National Partners and QIOs received printed copies of the Guide in May. The Leadership Guide is also available on www.RAMcampaign.org in PDF and interactive versions. Copies may be downloaded from the Resources section of the Web site. We encourage you to take advantage of this unique resource.
Video Clip
A 2 ½ minute video clip entitled “Improving the Quality of Health Care for Children with Cystic Fibrosis" is now available in the Press Room section of the www.RAMcampaign.org. It can be downloaded and used on campaign participant Web sites or during coalition presentations. If you have any questions about the clip please call Allan Childers. His contact information is listed below.
Promotional Kit
Released in March, the promotional kit includes revised publicity materials that we encourage campaign participants to use in organizational newsletters, magazines and on their respective Web sites. The kit includes an introductory story about RAM, several side bar stories, a RAM Style Guide, RAM logos in color and black-and-white and a number of series related photographs. These materials will be updated on a regular basis. You need to access the password-protected area for National Partners or QIOs at www.RAMcampaign,org to download the Kit. You can also request a CD-ROM version by calling Ajeenah Amir (contact information listed below).
RAMcampaign.org
We urge National Partners to find ways to promote the availability of this site. For example if you’d like to include an announcement about RAMcampaign.org, contact Allan Childers at DCI. We have promotional materials you can post on your site.
RAMcampaign.org is updated on a daily basis. Visit the site to find out the latest development and to access a growing list of products and tools developed by organizations that support quality improvement. The Connect with Others database continues to grow as coalitions expand nationwide. Please encourage your members, chapters and local stakeholders to become engaged. Direct them to this unique database where they can search by organizational categories as well as geographically for others involved in the campaign and a variety of health care quality issues.
If you have press announcements related to your organization’s quality improvement work and would like to have them posted on RAMcampaign.org, please send them to webmaster@RAMcampaign.org. We are including Partner news on the home page and on the site’s News section.
There are proprietary areas on the site for National Partners and QIOs. If you didn’t receive a password to reach these areas, please contact webmaster@RAMcampaign.org.
Free Spanish and English language diabetes materials developed by Lumetra
Lumetra, the California QIO offers a number of resources to assist providers and community groups in their diabetes outreach to the Latino community. All materials can be downloaded and distributed to providers, patients and families. They include patient education materials and tools and materials for physicians/providers. Materials are free and coalitions working on quality improvement in chronic care, especially in diabetes may want to take a look at what is available. In addition to these materials there are a number of resources and helpful Web sites.
To access this informative Spanish and English language material visit: http://www.lumetra.com/diabetesandlatinos/resources/index.asp
Invite RAM to a conference or meeting
If you have an upcoming conference or meeting and would like to feature the series, please let us know. Frank Christopher, executive producer, and Matthew Eisen, co-executive producer, are available for presentations, as are other members of the communications team. Our team is eager to work with you on arranging participation at your events. Please contact Lee Allen, project director.
Who to call
Devillier Communications, Inc. (DCI)
Linda Devillier, President: Strategic Counsel, PBS Stations, National Partner recruitment and relationships, QIO support. Available for presentations.
(202) 833-8121 ext. 3005, ldevillier@devillier.com or lbdevillier@aol.com
Barbara Lohman, Senior Vice President: Overall responsibility for campaign management, National Partner recruitment and relationships, QIO support. Available for presentations. (951) 340-0010, blohman1@aol.com
Lee Allen, Project Director: Day to day responsibility for the campaign. Serves as official liaison with Partners, QIOs and PBS stations. Manages PBS Incentive Grants Program. Available for presentations. 202-833-8121 ext. 3009, lallen@devillier.com
Ajeenah Amir, Project Coordinator: Responds to all requests for promotional materials such as written materials, series video clips and artwork. Provides overall support to QIOs/ National Partners Program and Web site. (202) 833-8121 ext. 3024, aamir@devillier.com
Allan Childers, Webmaster: Manages Remaking American Medicine campaign Web site. (202) 833-8121 ext. 3007, achilders@devillier.com
Crosskeys Media:
NOTE: Crosskeys Media has a new address and phone number. The new office address is: 2021 Sperry Avenue, Suite #5 Ventura, CA 93003. The new telephone number is noted by Frank’s name. The new fax number is (805) 650-8304. Matthew’s telephone number remains the same.
Frank Christopher, Executive Producer: Remaking American Medicine
(805) 650-8300, fc@crosskeysmedia.com
Matthew Eisen, Co-Executive Producer: Remaking American Medicine
(619) 283-0480, me@crosskeysmedia.com
