July 1, 2018
Wear Sunscreen
Sun protection has always been big in my family. We tend to burn instead of tan and are prone to skin cancer. Knowing this about myself has made me more vigilant. This was my first lesson in the fallibility of the human body and in my taking charge of my own health. Summer is often…
Read more »June 1, 2018
Choosing Our Direction for 2019
Every year we have the chance to step back, look at our work, and choose our topics for the next year. We would also love to hear input from our community about our new direction. Typically we follow a two-step process, having a wide-ranging discussion at the end of which we narrow down our choices….
Read more »May 1, 2018
Expanding Our Opioid Prescribing Recommendations
Many groups across the country are working to reduce overprescribing of opioids. Our new area of work is to add to the 2015 AMDG Interagency Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain, endorsed by the Bree Collaborative in July 2015, on how many opioids should be prescribed after a patient has surgery. We have seen a…
Read more »April 13, 2018
Conferences, Conferences, Conferences: Our Community At Work
Like many of you I spend many of my working hours in my office or in meetings – so I look forward to the opportunity to meet with and learn from people across the health care spectrum at conferences and other community events. Here is what is happening around Washington state in the next couple…
Read more »March 30, 2018
Breaking Down the Stigma around Suicide
Suicide is a preventable, public health issue. This is the framework from which our workgroup aims to develop standards for Suicide Prevention. We have been meeting since February, you can see our focus areas in our charter, and we welcome you to join us this month on April 12th. One topic that has come up…
Read more »March 16, 2018
Partners in Improving Health Care: Learning from Others
Health Affairs’ blog recently published America’s “NICE”? discussing whether the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is becoming our country’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). ICER was founded in 2006 as “an independent and non-partisan research organization that objectively evaluates the clinical and economic value of prescription drugs, medical tests, and…
Read more »February 26, 2018
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: Building a Health Care System for All of Us
Dementia impacts people and families across our State. Symptoms including issues with memory, cognition, and social functioning are difficult for patients as well as their family members, friends, caregivers, and also for providers. Patients may not feel supported and heard, caregivers may be overwhelmed, and providers may be unsure as to what the best next…
Read more »February 20, 2018
Meeting the Needs of Transgender Patients
This post continues our series on LGBTQ+ populations and the health concerns and disparities that affect these communities, in alignment with one of our newest workgroups here at the Bree, LGBTQ+ Health Care. We invite interested members of the public to join upcoming meetings by phone or in-person. By Emily Wittenhagen Program Assistant, Bree Collaborative…
Read more »February 1, 2018
Presenting our Hysterectomy Recommendations
Hysterectomy is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the United States but rates are highly variable by hospital and region. Hysterectomy rates were one of the very first procedures to be mapped by where people live and receive care in 1973, showing that type of care is very different depending on location….
Read more »January 16, 2018
From GRID to PrEP: Modern Life with HIV
This post kicks off our series on LGBTQ+ populations and the health concerns and disparities that effect these communities, in alignment with our newest workgroup here at the Bree, LGBTQ Health Care. We invite interested members of the public to join upcoming meetings by phone or in-person. We’ve come a long way since HIV was…
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