Medicine holds incredible power to save lives. But what happens when the risks to health are outside the scope of health care? In this video, Aswita Tan-McGrory, Deputy Director of the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells a powerful story of the impact of home environments on health. She describes “the limits of medicine” and challenges health systems to look outside their walls to improve health outcomes for their patients. Learn more in our course TA 101: Introduction to Population Health.

Is it possible to improve health care quality while lowering costs? Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs, offer one model in which health care providers work together to improve the health of a specific population while controlling costs. In a recently published article, Open School Chapter Leader Faheem Ahmed, IHI CEO and President Maureen Bisognano, and former Partners Healthcare CEO Gary Gottlieb make the case that ACOs can pay a pivotal role in improving England’s National Health Service, drawing on the impact of ACOs in the United States as a result of the Affordable Care Act. How might ACOs fair in England? Read the full article here. 

Providers have more ability to grant patients’ dying wishes than they might think, and asking what the person wants is a great place to start. According to Dr. Dawn M. Gross, there is no reason to avoid the much-feared conversation regarding end-of-life care. “The only time doctors are left with ‘nothing more to do,’” she writes, “is when we fail to ask.” Read about how Dr. Gross listens to and responds to patient needs in The New York Times. And for tools to start the conversation, take PFC 103: Having the Conversation: Basic Skills for Conversations about End-of-Life Care.

Hospital General Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico