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Kirsten Firminger

@kfirminger.bsky.social

107 followers 140 following 35 posts

Social psychologist & health services researcher. Posts are mine and not my employer. Focused on how to do better research, measurement, and evaluation by centering people, community, & equity.

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Kirsten Firminger @kfirminger.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

PCORI Project by Dr. Talal & team: Using Telehealth to Improve Access to Hepatitis C Virus Treatment for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder -- The TEAM-C Study 6/ #publichealth www.pcori.org/research-res...

What was the research about?
Opioid use disorder, or OUD, occurs when a pattern of using opioids, such as prescription medicines or heroin, leads to dependence or distress. People with OUD have a high risk for becoming infected with the hepatitis C virus, or HCV. Without treatment, HCV can lead to liver failure, liver cancer, or death.

Opioid treatment programs, or OTPs, can help people with OUD using medicine and behavioral therapy. However, many OTPs don’t provide on-site treatment for HCV.

In this study, the research team compared two ways to provide HCV care to patients in OTPs:

Usual care. OTPs provided care for patients’ OUD. For HCV care, patients received a referral to an off-site HCV specialist.
Supported telehealth. OTPs provided care for patients’ OUD. For HCV care, a case manager helped patients connect with an off-site HCV specialist in a telehealth appointment. Telehealth is a way to provide care to patients remotely using video and audio. Patients then received HCV medicine in person from a nurse at the OTP.
The research team wanted to learn if the supported telehealth approach increased the number of people whose HCV was cured compared with usual care.

What were the results?
Three months after completing treatment, 90 percent of patients with HCV who received treatment through supported telehealth had their HCV cured compared with 39 percent of patients who received usual care.

The two approaches didn’t differ in patient-reported satisfaction with care.

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Kirsten Firminger @kfirminger.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

PCORI had a great session on Achieving Patient-Centeredness in Artificial Intelligence(AI) at their annual meeting. I continue to refer back to it. Available online (freel here www.pcori.org/events/2024/... #healthservices #healthcare

Patient-centered Al
Patient-centered Al engages patients as partners throughout the entire Al
life cycle, from problem formulation, to design and implementation of Al
services that enable patients to make informed healthcare decisions and
contribute to improvements in healthcare delivery and outcomes
Achieving this aim requires that Al solutions are designed, used, and
optimized in a way that:
Is fair, secure, transparent, and reliable;
Demonstrates responsiveness to real-world needs of engaged
patients and communities;
Is aligned with patient values and preferences.

Artificial Intelligence
(AI)

Human-Centered Al
Health Informatics
Digital Health

Algorithmic Life Cycle
Phase 1- Problem formulation
Phase 2 - Data selection, assessment and management
Phase 3 - Algorithm development, training and validation
Phase 4 - Deployment and integration of algorithms in
intended settings
Phase 5 - Algorithm monitoring, maintenance, updating
or de-implementation
Need for authentic engagement of patients and
communities in each phase!

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Kirsten Firminger @kfirminger.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Tressie McMillan Cottom's new column with post-election analysis - How an Empty Internet Gave Us Tradwives and Trump www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...

There is no better indicator of how
important the wellness left-right
configuration mattered to this election
than Trump's pick of Robert F. Kennedy
Jr. to head the Department of Health
and Human Services. Kennedy
embodies incoherent ideas of a social-
media-driven iteration of white
nationalist ideas about health, such as
touting raw milk and junk science
about Covid-19 vaccines

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Kirsten Firminger @kfirminger.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

One of my favorite projects: Measurement can reinforce the status quo, or be a force for change, depending on how it is used – and who uses it. Five guiding principles to align systems with communities to advance equity through shared measurement. www.air.org/project/cros...

Measurement that aligns systems with communities toward equitable outcomes: 1. Requires up-front investment in communities to develop and sustain community partner capacity; 2. Is co-created by communities to center their values, needs, priorities, and actions; 3. Creates accountability to communities for addressing root causes of inequities and repairing harm; 4. Focuses on a holistic and comprehensive view of people and communities that highlights assets and historical context; and 5. Reflects shared values and intentional, long-term efforts to build and sustain trust.

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