Meet Dr. Ernest M. Moy, OHE Executive Director

Ernest M. Moy, MD, MPH was recently named as Executive Director of the VHA Office of Health Equity. OHE supports and coordinates efforts to understand and reduce disparities in health and health care affecting veterans.

Prior to joining VHA, he was a Medical Officer in the Office of Analysis and Epidemiology at the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At CDC, he studied rural health disparities, analyzed linked hospital-vital statistics data to identify care patterns that placed patients at high risk for opioid poisoning death, and developed new data visualizations and partnerships for disseminating health statistics. 

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October Focus on Health Equity and Action Cyberseminar

Making Health Equity Data Actionable with Visualizations 

Wednesday, October 10, 2018 
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT

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A focus on how we communicate health equity data is an important process to promote health and well-being for Veterans and engender action from stakeholders. Join the Office of Health Equity’s recently appointed Executive Director, Ernest M. Moy, MD, and health equity partners as they discuss approaches to visualizing data. Speakers will share their expertise and strategies to visualize data.

The current session will:

• Highlight efforts to make health equity data available, understandable, and actionable;
• Discuss efforts to improve and expand data and visualizations; and
• Identify resources to further expand knowledge to assist with visualizing data.

Confirmed Panelists

Ernest M. Moy, MD, MPH Executive Director, Office of Health Equity, Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration

Leslie Hausmann, PhD Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Core Investigator, Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Brian D. Smedley, PhD Executive Director and Co-Founder, National Collaborative for Health Equity

Background Resources

Advancing Health Opportunity and Equity Across the United States: A State-By-State Comparison Wong Croal, N., Smedley, B., Andrulis, D., Woolf, S., Siddiqui, N., Wilson, K., Turner, M., & Stelter, A. (2018). The HOPE Initiative: Brief Report.

Report highlights:

• Opportunity framing
• Aspirational and attainable goals
• National and state data by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status
• Measures of progress
  
  

Visit the VHA OHE Website for more information on health equity related tools to reduce health disparities for vulnerable Veterans.

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About the Focus on Health Equity and Action Cyberseminar Series

The Focus on Health Equity and Action Cyberseminar Series was launched by OHE in partnership with the VA Health Services Research and Development. Session titles and presenters are updated closer to the event date. Sign up for the OHE listserv to receive updates and to learn more about Veteran health equity issues. 

Veteran Health Equity and Disparities

Overall, the VA has fewer issues with disparities compared to other health systems. However, some Veterans and VA facilities may experience disparities in health and healthcare outcomes. 

Health and healthcare disparities adversely affect groups of people who have often experience social or economic obstacles to health or a clean environment based on characteristics linked to discrimination or exclusion including:

• Race/ethnicity
• Sex and gender
• Age
• Geography
• Religion
• Socioeconomic status
• Sexual orientation
• Mental health status
• Military experience
• Cognitive, sensory, or physical disability

Visit the VHA Office of Health Equity for more details about Veteran health equity issues, VA’s strategic plan to achieve health equity for Veterans - VHA Health Equity Action Plan, and to sign up for Veteran Health Equity Updates.

Recent Health Equity Updates, News, and Tools

 2017 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report

The annual National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report is mandated by Congress to provide a comprehensive overview of the quality of healthcare received by the general U.S. population and disparities in care experienced by different racial and socioeconomic groups. Data from the 2017 report is available on the NHQRnet website. 

• The Data Query Tool now includes supplemental measures
• The Resources tab includes new resources added to “Addressing Disparities and Improving Quality” and updated methods used in the National Healthcare Reports
• Updates to the home page
• Added State/County statistics for Cancer
  
  

Effect of a Positive Psychological Intervention on Pain and Functional Difficulty Among Adults With Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Key Points

• Question:  Is positive psychology effective as a treatment for chronic arthritis pain and does it reduce race disparities in pain management?
• Findings:  In this randomized clinical trial involving 360 Veterans Affairs patients with chronic pain from osteoarthritis, a 6-week telephone-administered positive psychological intervention did not improve pain or functional difficulty vs a control program. No difference by race was found in the effect of the intervention.
• Meaning:  A telephone-administered positive psychological intervention was not associated with improvement in chronic pain or functional difficulty from osteoarthritis for either white or African American patients.

Hausmann, LR., et al. (2018). Effect of a Positive Psychological Intervention on Pain and Functional Difficulty Among Adults With Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open, 1(5), e182533-e182533.