WASHINGTON, March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- America's Health Insurance Plans
(AHIP) is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Health Literacy
Innovations, a software company offering a revolutionary new tool for
companies and individuals who are interested in promoting clear health
communication and improving printed materials for consumers and patients.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040830/AHIPLOGO)
In the United States, an individual's ability to understand and act on
medical instructions and information ("health literacy") is a stronger
predictor of health status than age, income, employment, education, race,
or ethnicity.
Studies have documented gaps between the way health information is
presented and the ability of most Americans to understand and act on it.
Low health literacy puts consumers at risk: studies have documented,
e.g., that people with poor health literacy remain in the hospital more
days per admission, and have more difficulty using metered inhalers for
their asthma than those with better health literacy skills.
As discussed in the November/December issue of Coverage Magazine, the
aggregate financial burden that results from low health literacy and lack
of attention to principles of clear health communication is estimated to be
$58 billion. For example, medication errors are often the result of a lack
of understanding about how to take drugs.
Health Literacy Innovations is the newest AHIP Solutions partner. The
company has created what it believes is the nation's first "health literacy
checker," an interactive software tool designed to help communicators
create clear health information and conform to principles of clear health
communication.
AHIP is committed to the issue of health literacy and welcomes the new
tool.
"In an era when patients, and especially those with chronic conditions,
take a greater role in their health care, this partnership provides a
valuable tool to assist health plans with presenting information in ways
that make it easy for patients to understand and act on," said Karen
Ignagni, President and CEO of AHIP.
A growing number of companies are subjecting their materials to "health
literacy review" as they are developed.
"Given our expertise in health literacy, we know that creating clear
health care information requires a greater effort than just moving text or
using bullets to reduce reading grade levels," said Health Literacy
Innovations Founder Aileen Kantor. "We hope that by offering the health
care industry a comprehensive tool to help with content, readability
levels, clarity, even design, and by giving them a means to replace clunky
terms or medical jargon with clear language, we can help improve health
care outcomes one word at a time."
The Health Literacy Advisor streamlines the health literacy review
process for many materials. It applies electronic readability indices,
including the Fry-based formula, and taps into a glossary of more than
9,000 interchangeable terms. The program, which is an add-on to Microsoft
Word, operates like a "spell-checker" and scans a document for its
readability and literacy level. If it finds words or terms that compromise
readability, it highlights those words and offers alternatives.
For more on AHIP Solutions partners and programs visit
http://www.ahipsolutions.org.
Health Literacy Innovations, a privately-held firm headquartered in
Bethesda, Md., creates innovative tools to enhance health literacy. Health
Literacy Innovations believes if it can empower communicators to create,
produce, print, display, share, advertise -- health literate information,
it can improve health care communication one word at a time. For more
information visit http://www.HealthLiteracyInnovations.com or call
301.230.4966.
AHIP is the national trade association representing nearly 1,300 member
companies providing health insurance coverage to more than 200 million
Americans.
SOURCE America's Health Insurance Plans
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Related links:
http://www.ahip.org
http://www.HealthLiteracyInnovations.com/
Photo Notes:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040830/AHIPLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Mohit Ghose of America's Health Insurance
Plans, +1-202-778-8494; or Aileen Kantor of Health Literacy
Innovations, +1-301-230-4966
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