outside the office and talk more freely about their health. “I think it’s really valuable for people to see physicians look and dress nor- mal,” she said. “Physicians need to do the same things to stay healthy as the rest of the community does.” Dr. Pike says the program is a simple, effective, and easily reproducible way to promote health literacy. Anyone can join, and patients don’t need any equipment, just a pair of walking shoes. In November, the TMA Foundation
(TMAF), the association’s philanthropic arm, received $40,000 in funding from the Aetna Foundation to expand Walk With a Doc events in Texas. TMAF added $20,000 of its own funds to help bolster the program.
TMA physicians now lead 11 walks in
six areas of the state, and there’s a wait- ing list for physicians who want to start more, Dr. Pike says. To donate or get involved in Walk
With a Doc and other TMAF projects, visit
www.texmed.org/foundation. In addition, TIHCQE is pursuing a
pilot project with the Choosing Wisely® campaign to improve Texans’ health care literacy. Choosing Wisely is a national ini- tiative of the ABIM Foundation that en- courages physicians to rethink the neces- sity of commonly administered tests and medications. For more information, visit
www.texmed.org/choosingwisely. Dr. Stevens says the pilot program would give patients the tools to ques- tion procedures that might be medically unnecessary. He says the program would include key talking points for patients to take to their physicians, such as the risks associated with recommended tests or procedures and less costly alternatives to a recommended procedure. TIHCQE is hoping to team up with Choosing Wisely and launch the health literacy project in 2015. “We’re excited about our beginning, and we’re really gaining traction fast,” Dr. Stevens said. Robyn Jacobson, chief operating of- ficer of Entrust, Inc., health benefit con- sultants and administrators, and a mem- ber of the TIHCQE board, says while the institute refines its Choosing Wisely pro- gram, the board will explore opportuni-
Intermediate 53% Below basic 14%
U.S. adult health literacy rate, 2003
ties to launch a broader health literacy awareness campaign.
Ms. Jacobson says the institute hopes to collaborate with The University of Texas, the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, the Texas Workforce Commis- sion, and other educational and medical groups “circling around this issue.” Ms. Jacobson says that TIHCQE is well-suited to launch an awareness cam- paign to a wide audience and that the initiative must grab patients’ attention. “There is so much information for pa- tients to consider,” she said. “In addition
to their health issues, patients have to navigate the complexities of health care reform as well as the terms involved in their health plans, which can be just as overwhelming.”
Ms. Jacobson said simple things, such
as reading the instructions on a prescrip- tion bottle correctly, can help lower hos- pital readmission rates and improve pa- tient care.
Getting a head start Dr. Carter says the Choosing Wisely part- nership allows physicians to play a key
22% Basic
Proficient
12%
Note: Detail may not sum to total because of rounding.
Source: The Health Literacy of America’s Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. National Center for Education Statistics.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006483.pdf
July 2014 TEXAS MEDICINE 47
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