Programs & Services
Public Health Detailing Program
The Public Health Detailing Program works with primary health care providers to improve patient care around key public health challenges. Using a strategy modeled after the pharmaceutical sales approach, the DOHMH representatives promote clinical preventive services and chronic disease management through the delivery of brief, targeted messages to doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and administrators at their practice sites.
"Detailing Action Kits" – containing clinical tools, resources for providers and patient education materials to promote evidence-based best practices – are distributed during visits. The topics of these action kits are selected based on their anticipated impact on morbidity and mortality.
To date, detailing campaigns have focused on the following health issues: asthma, colon cancer screening, contraception, depression screening, diabetes, hypertension, HIV testing, influenza vaccination and smoking cessation. Topics of future campaigns include cholesterol screening, obesity, alcohol screening, and chlamydia screening.
The Public Health Detailing Program targets three communities burdened by poor health: East and Central Harlem, North and Central Brooklyn, and the South Bronx , neighborhoods in which the District Public Health Offices have been established. There have also been some citywide detailing campaigns; these have included a tobacco cessation campaign in April 2005 and a diabetes campaign in May 2006.
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Preventive Services Advisor (PSA) Program
The newly launched Preventive Services Advisor Program aims to enhance the quality of care provided by health care facilities located in three communities burdened by poor health: East and Central Harlem, North and Central Brooklyn, and the South Bronx , neighborhoods in which the District Public Health Offices have been established.
Experienced health care professionals are deployed to primary care practices to work as Preventive Services Advisors (PSAs). The PSAs coach office teams on making changes to increase the delivery of preventive services and improve the quality of chronic disease management. Diabetes has been the initial focus of the program. Over time, other chronic health conditions will be addressed.
In the first year of the program, PSAs worked with 7 practices across these neighborhoods. To structure the improvement work at these sites, the PSAs have developed a Step-by-Step Guide to Making Key Changes in Chronic Disease Care. 
Services provided by PSAs include:
- • Dissemination of educational materials and tools to support the management of key chronic conditions
- • Onsite coaching to promote the adoption of evidence-based practices and other innovative management strategies in chronic diseases
- • Assisting sites with adoption of disease registries and reporting systems
- • Convening collaborative learning sessions to promote knowledge transfer and sharing between participating practices
- • Providing trainings on the management of chronic conditions on topics including, but not limited to, evidence-based practice and self-management support
- • Linking practices to community resources and other NYC DOHMH initiatives
To learn more about the Preventive Services Advisor Program, including how to become a participating primary care practice, please click here.
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Diabetes/Depression Collaborative & Spread Initiative
The New York City Depression and Diabetes Collaborative has brought clinicians, health care organizations, and public health organizations together to improve care and outcomes for patients with depression and diabetes.
In the first year of this effort (October 2003 – October 2004), a diverse group of 21 primary care practices comprised the Collaborative. Nine institutions focused on depression, while the remaining 12 focused on diabetes. The primary objective of this effort was to demonstrate measurable improvements in the delivery of preventive services and management of these conditions among the participating practices.
To achieve this objective, the Clinical Systems Improvement Program identified consultants from the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), as well as nationally-known quality improvement experts, to work with participating practices to: reorganize care delivery, enhance clinical knowledge, introduce or upgrade clinical information systems, strengthen linkages with community-based organizations, and strengthen clinicians' skills in assisting patients to manage their diabetes or depression.
This year, a subset of Collaborative participants have entered the “Spread Initiative.” During this phase, efforts focus on:
- • Maintaining gains made in the last year by implementing changes in a systematic and sustainable fashion; and
- • Expanding the Collaborative's reach beyond the core team to effect change in other clinical settings within each participating institution.
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