Building Physician Competency in Lifestyle Medicine: A Model for Health Improvement
In the private sector, rising healthcare costs are forcing companies to examine their role in worker health and care. For the Cummins Corporation, a manufacturer of large engines, the answer was to examine the root cause of poor health among their employees and redefine their approach to clinical care by integrating lifestyle-based interventions—like prescribing food, exercise or sleep instead of simply medication—into the preventive care services provided at on-campus health centers and other settings.
To pursue this first-of-its-kind care model, Cummins partnered with the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) and American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) to develop the Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies Program, the evidence-based curriculum that teaches physicians how to incorporate lifestyle medicine into practice and establishes a new standard for primary care focused on disease prevention, health promotion, and care coordination.
To learn about the history and major pillars of the program, as well as how lifestyle medicine can change the culture of American medicine, improve the bottom line of health care spending in the private sector, and assist physicians preparing for the new MACRA reporting requirements, read a commentary written by Danielle Pere, Associate Executive Director, on behalf of ACPM recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Preventing Diabetes Learning Institute at Preventive Medicine 2017
With Medicare’s announcement that it will begin covering patient enrollment in the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) starting January 2018, insurance and healthcare providers are quickly integrating the preventive service into their clinical care models. To help practitioners understand the DPP service model and improve diabetes and prediabetes care in their communities, ACPM is offering a day-long learning institute on "Preventing Diabetes: Innovative Approaches to Increasing Screening, Testing, and Referral."
The educational session—to be held May 23 in Portland, Oregon as part of Preventive Medicine 2017—is available to physicians, providers and other health practitioners. Industry thought leaders will lead the event and provide an in-depth look at:
The evidence base for the DPP service model and intricacies of scaling it nationally
Physician competencies in lifestyle medicine as a means to screen, test and refer for prediabetes
Approaches for prediabetes screening, diagnosis, and prescribing lifestyle modifications
Case studies on how to integrate workflows, quality measures, and health equity into practice
Preventive Medicine is the annual meeting of ACPM and the premier event for professionals in disease prevention and health promotion. This year’s meeting is themed "Achieving Health Equity through Prevention" and offers a wide range of educational programming for physicians and public health professionals. Facebook / @ACPM_HQ / #PrevMed2017
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU-- Did you learn about a new educational opportunity or read a good book related to lifestyle medicine that might be of interest to our readers? Submit your ideas, news and commentaries by email to Dani Pere, ACPM Associate Executive Director. Submissions received by the first of the month will be considered for the next issue.
AHA Statement on Lifestyle Medicine Education Framework
A scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) published in Circulation advocates for improved lifestyle counseling competency among future physicians by integrating key learning objectives into medical education and training. The authors contend that medical schools, by embracing healthy lifestyle promotion, counseling, and follow-up as part of required training, have the potential to lead a critically-needed paradigm shift in public health.
The authors conclude that comprehensive training of physicians in lifestyle counseling during medical school is essential for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and other NCDs. They also specifically mention the Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies Program as a good tool for reducing knowledge gaps of practicing physicians. The online curriculum is being utilized by several accredited preventive medicine residency training programs, including the University of California - San Diego, Loma Linda University, Stony Brook University , Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Texas Department of State Health Services, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, with more in the works.
One Weight-Loss Approach Fits All? No, Not Even Close -- "About 15 to 20 percent of patients respond to measures short of surgery, with response defined as a change in their body weight that is maintained without constant hunger or cravings. While people seldom end up thin, their permanent weight loss is a proof of principle, showing that treatments can lower the weight the brain forces a person to maintain. The last resort, for those whose obesity is extreme, is bariatric surgery, which elicits a permanent and substantial weight loss in almost everyone. In the meantime, there is Dr. Sacks’s challenge." -- The New York Times
Weighing Down America: The Health and Economic Impact of Obesity -- Obesity and excess weight is an expanding health problem for more than 60 percent of Americans, and a new study by Hugh Waters and Ross DeVol finds that it's a tremendous drain on the U.S. economy as well. The total cost to treat health conditions related to obesity—ranging from diabetes to Alzheimer's—plus obesity's drag on attendance and productivity at work, exceeds $1.4 trillion annually. That's more than twice what the U.S. spends on national defense. The total, from 2014 data, was equivalent to 8.2 percent of U.S. GDP, and it exceeds the economies of all but three U.S. states and all but 10 countries. The report also highlights how this public health challenge can best be addressed. -- Milken Institute
The CHEF Coaching program is opening the new year with exciting news: 1) new, updated curriculum for both the remote and hybrid programs; 2) Harvard Medical School CME accreditation (hybrid program); 3) elective hands on cooking component at Boston. For more information about the trainings, including dates and fees, visit our website or contact chefcoaching@instituteoflifestylemedicine.org.
ACPM and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are hosting three in-person listening sessions to explore the role of providers in implementing the CDC's 6|18 Initiative. Physicians and providers should consider attending these in-depth discussions if they are involved or interested in preventing or addressing any of the initiative's six priority health conditions—asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, healthcare-associated infections, tobacco, or unintended pregnancies.
The conference theme -- Achieving Health Equity through Prevention -- will explore the many ways physicians are working to achieve health equity through the diverse programs that encompassed by the preventive medicine and public health specialty. Sessions will highlight achievements, opportunities and gaps, as well as provide opportunities to learn new skills and methods to bring to the task.
