Solutions can’t fix problems if they never make it off the shelf.
Our work doesn’t stop once we’ve developed a solution. We’re dedicated to implementing our work around the globe to have real impact for real people. In the Spread phase of the Arc, we scale our tools across diverse settings, contexts, and users so that every patient, everywhere has the opportunity for better care.
TeamBirth Continues Expansion and Publishes Positive Data from Pilot Trial
The Delivery Decisions Initiative continued to improve teamwork and communication in labor and delivery across the country. TeamBirth was implemented at 37 additional hospitals, including every birthing hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma and health systems in Washington, Michigan, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Oregon, and California. By the end of 2022, TeamBirth had reached more than 60 hospitals in nine states and continues to expand.
New data from a pilot trial of TeamBirth showed that 99% of patients reported having the role they wanted in decision-making during labor and delivery and 90% of nurses, midwives, and obstetricians would recommend TeamBirth. TeamBirth was featured in Aftershock, a documentary exploring the devastating impact of the Black maternal health crisis in the U.S. and highlighting efforts to make change.
Serious Illness Care Program Improves Accessibility with Digital Implementation Resources and Updated Tools
The Serious Illness Care team focused efforts on improving accessibility to its tools, trainings, and implementation resources to reach more health systems, especially those with fewer resources. The team developed a suite of digital learning resources, including an avatar-based simulation training, to lower the time and cost barriers of implementing the program with on-demand, self-guided learning.
In addition, the team launched a multi-stakeholder process to update the language of the foundational Serious Illness Conversation Guide to enhance its inclusivity for people of all backgrounds. The work included extensive stakeholder feedback as well as patient focus groups in partnership with the Patient Advocate Foundation. The team also continued to spread the patient-facing What Matters to Me Workbook to new audiences, with a particular focus on faith-based communities.
Better Evidence Facilitates 100,000th Subscription Donation
In 2022, the Better Evidence for Clinicians program facilitated donation of its 100,000th UpToDate® subscription to health care workers in low-resource settings. This group includes more than 2,200 physicians in Ukraine and Poland working under dire conditions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These subscriptions have changed an estimated 11 million clinical decisions across 165 countries since 2009.
The Better Evidence for Training program onboarded 16 new medical schools to equip medical students with access to high-quality, evidence-based information. With help from 72 local champions, Better Evidence granted more than 72,000 students, residents, and faculty in 43 medical schools across 15 African countries free access to digital tools, including UpToDate, Trip Pro, MSD Merck Manuals, and Osmosis.
Primary Health Care Program’s Measurement Work Reflected in WHO-UNICEF Primary Health Care Measurement Framework and Indicators
The WHO and UNICEF released the first-ever globally-endorsed framework for primary health care measurement and monitoring. The Framework maintains and builds on the work of Ariadne Labs and the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI)’s foundational Conceptual Framework. PHCPI updated the Vital Signs Profile, available on the PHC Digital Hub, to align with the newly released framework and ensure that all stakeholders can engage around unified measures. The PHCPI partnership concluded in 2022 after seven years and released a reference guide detailing their contributions to defining, measuring, and improving primary health care globally.
The Primary Health Care Program also continued work on the Crosswalk Telehealth initiative, publishing a playbook for leveraging telehealth in behavioral health integration at FQHCs. The playbook was presented to more than 30 centers as part of the Massachusetts FQHC Telehealth Consortium.