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Project Description

This project will evaluate a model quality improvement program within the Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine Family Practice Center. The program adjusts care based on an assessment of patients’ health literacy using the “Newest Vital Sign,” a brief screening test. Screening results are incorporated into the patient’s electronic medical record. A multi-stage quantitative and qualitative evaluation will be used to assess process and outcome measures from both the clinicians' and patients' perspective associated with the impact of health literacy screening on the clinical quality improvement program. Specifically, patients will be interviewed in order to determine the impact of screening on care experiences. Additionally, a medical records abstraction will be conducted to assess quality indicators and potential disparities in care as measured against clinical quality improvement guidelines for hypertension.  Clinician surveys and focus groups will assess how useful this screening is in helping to provide high quality care to patients. This project will highlight opportunities and barriers to clinical screening for low health literacy and the impact of this screening on quality and health disparities.

Principal Investigators:
Dr. Gregory Strayhorn
Dr. Verna L. Welch
Dr. Jonathan B. VanGeest

Lead Organization
Morehouse School of Medicine 

For More Information

Please Contact:
Charlye Majett, MBA
cmajett@msm.edu