Introduction
Unfortunately, vulnerable groups in the US may receive improper medical care because of the flaws of the health system. Therefore it is of paramount importance to reduce costs and improve the quality of health by founding new screening models to access services needed. Such a model already exists and is called Accountable Health Communities Model or AHC. By now, the model has been implemented in several states and proved to be efficient in the results. Vermont communities show an ideal example of successful team-based work and engagement.
The Purposes of the Model
Admittedly, there can be several points to improve concerning the work of the medical system in the US. For instance, there are claims that “racial and ethnic disparities exist in diabetes prevalence, access to diabetes care, diabetes-related complications and mortality rates, and the quality of diabetes care among Americans” (Hu, Shi, Liang, Haile, Lee, et. al., 2016). Indeed, cases of mistreatment towards ill people because of the factors they never chose, namely race and nationality, should be prevented. The same concerns rocketing prices of medical care because some services seem to be out of reach for the representatives of poor communities. That is why Vermont Accountable Communities Model tends to build working collaborations aiming at giving a helping hand to citizens and curing them regardless of their status.
Moreover, The Vermont Accountable Communities Model tried to connect projects and strategies and “convened multi-disciplinary teams from across the state to explore implementation and community capacity building through the ACH Peer Learning Lab” (State of Vermont Health Care Innovation Project, 2018). It was done to summon professionals and build multi-disciplinary teams to start a project on improving the healthcare sector in that region and suggest utterly new solutions for the whole system.
The Core Elements Shown by the Peer Learning Lab
The Peer Learning Lab turned out to be quite fruitful concerning its results. Actually, with the l use of online learning, the Peer Learning Lab “provided help for participants in increasing their capacity and readiness across nine core elements:
- mission,
- multisectoral partnership,
- integrator organization,
- governance,
- data and indicators,
- strategy and implementation,
- community member engagement,
- communications,
- sustainable financing” (Shi, 2020).
Thus, it may be supposed that all the findings done by the groups may be helpful for the improvement of the medical system in the future. However, it is not to forget that community health centers started to work in 1965 and already saved thousands of lives. For instance, after Hurricane Katherine, the representatives of the Gulf region were treated with their participation (Ablah, Tinius, Horn, et al., 2008). Fortunately, a bridge between medical care services for people belonging to the social categories has been founded.
Conclusion
All things considered, no health systems may be considered perfect as they are still undergoing the process of development and adjusting to people’s current needs from time to time. Therefore such models as Vermont Accountable Communities Model should be implemented to monitor and amend strategies for improving medical services and evaluate their progress concerning the treatment of vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities.
References
Ablah, E., Tinius, A.M., & Horn, L. (2008).Community health centers and emergency preparedness: An assessment of competencies and training needs. J Community Health, 33, 241–247. Web.
Bergner, M., Bobbitt, R. A., Kressel, S., Pollard, W. E., Gilson, B.S., & Morris, J. R.. (1976) The sickness impact profile: Conceptual formulation and methodology for the development of a health status measure. International Journal of Health Services, 6(3), 393-415. Web.
Hu, R., Shi, L., Liang, H., Haile, G. P., & Lee., D. C. (2016). Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Primary Care Quality Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13(100), 3-4. Web.
Shi, L. (2019). Introduction to Health Policy. Health Administration Press.
State of Vermont Health Care Innovation Project. (2018). Accountable Communities for Health.