Last December, the KHC launched a blog with the goal of improving communication with our members and the community about KHC activities, partner work, local and national news, and industry updates. Although that meant that our lean KHC staff had additional work to do in addition to our already heavy workloads, we determined that it was an important endeavor. It seems that our readers agree. We have enjoyed much interest in our blog and its content.
Now, a year into our blog, we want to wrap up 2017 with a “Best of” for our blog, looking at posts that have had the heaviest readership and those that our staff deemed its favorites.
Most Read Posts
- Our Diabetes Data Points Us to Top Priorities. Our inaugural blog post, a summary of the landscape of diabetes prevalence and management in the Kentuckiana region, was also our highest read of the year.
- New Members Added to KHC Executive Committee. The KHC restructured its leadership team in 2017, doubling its size and representing a broader perspective of key community stakeholders.
- Mental Health Integration: The Focus of 2018 Annual KHC Conference. Our focus for the KHC Annual Conference has narrowed to mental health and substance use disorder for 2018.
- Managing Specialty Drugs a Top Priority for Kentuckiana and National Employers. Top areas of healthcare benefits priorities for area employers include managing specialty drugs, the topic of our February 2017 employer round table.
- KHC Joins Forces with Other Healthcare Stakeholders in Measurement Alignment Initiative. KHC joined Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services to launch an initiative to create a core measures set that healthcare stakeholders in Kentucky can align around.
KHC Staff Favorites
Managing Specialty Drugs a Top Priority for Kentuckiana and National Employers
Selected by: Teresa Couts
My favorite blog came from Randa Deaton on Specialty Drugs. Specialty Drugs are a high cost for employers, however essential for the health of their employees. There are many lifesaving specialty drugs that can now cure a disease or give individuals an extended quality of life. Employers do need to put controls in place to manage cost and avoid waste since these drugs come with a high price tag. The overall goal is improving outcomes for people taking specialty drugs.
Kentucky Sees Big Gains in 2017 Commonwealth Fund State Health System Performance Scorecard
Selected by: Randa Deaton
My favorite blog came from Stephanie Clouser on eight state ranking improvements Kentucky saw in the Commonwealth’s annual Scorecard. Community health improvement is painfully slow, but even the smallest bend of the arc can mean health improvements for real people in our community. The Commonwealth Fund data is one of our most closely watched public health data sets, and while the ranking still shows significant areas of concern, I did take a few moments to enjoy the progress made.
New Board, New Data Vendor Drives More Project Work for the Kentuckiana Health Collaborative in 2017
Selected by: Stephanie Clouser
Randa Deaton’s year-end summary of KHC activities really highlighted the progress we’ve made as an organization in 2017. Sometimes it’s easy to minimize our accomplishments when we just look at our list of unfinished business, but we really have taken large steps towards great things this year.
High School Students Found Action Group to Improve KY Youth Mental Health
Selected by: Michele Ganote
It’s a good feeling knowing that we have really smart, compassionate young people in our community who have a desire to help change the stigma of mental illness among their peers. Statistics are alarming, “…rates of depression, anxiety, and the ‘self-medication’ associated with substance abuse are skyrocketing among Kentucky students,” and it will be a pleasure to work with these students in the next several months to make a start in tackling this issue. I know I am not alone in saying that mental illness has affected my life, many times in many ways, so any effort to create a positive change is exciting to me!
