Bridging the CHASM of Health Disparities
| The United States Public Health Service’s (USPHS) Community Health and Service Missions (CHASM) bridges the chasm of health disparities by providing essential human services for those who are least able to help themselves. CHASM improves emergency response capacity by fostering collaborations among local, state, tribal, and nongovernmental organizations. CHASM is an innovative avenue for efficiently utilizing the USPHS Commissioned Corps, a highly mobile cadre of multi-disciplinary subject matter experts from across federal agencies, to partner with local communities. USPHS response teams are deployed to underserved areas where officers provide expertise and participate in subject matter exchange in environmental health, epidemiology, toxicology, program administration and development, dental, veterinary, nursing, primary care, mental health, preventive medicine, and applied public health care. Since the establishment of CHASM in 2010, $2.85 million worth of health-related services have been provided. For every dollar invested in a project, at least two dollars of services are rendered. This makes the return on investment significant particularly when communities and government are under tight budgetary constraints. Even more valuable, is the lasting impact the missions have on the community through newly acquired skills. CHASM fosters local participation and community ownership leading to long term public health improvements. Contact Info: For more information on CHASM related projects please contact CAPT Kimberly Elenberg at Kimberly.Elenberg@hhs.gov. Website: Additional CHASM information may be found at the Commissioned Corps Management Information System website http://dcp.psc.gov/ccmis/ |
Million Hearts™ Initiative
Public-private partnership aimed at preventing one million heart attacks and strokes in five years.
Learn how the public and private sectors are using innovative approaches to collaboration, information dissemination, and project management to prevent heart disease and stroke, two of the nation’s leading causes of death. This innovation brings together broad expertise and establishes a central focus on a range of public health and clinical practice strategies to address significant national health issues. More details ...
Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse
What does a zombie apocalypse have to do with public health preparedness? Everything! Learn how a tongue-in-cheek blog post, complemented by social media outreach, drove an unprecedented number of visitors to CDC’s emergency webpage where they learned about protecting their families and homes during a disaster. More details ...
Connecting Kids with Dental Care
Making it easy for families to find the dental care their children need to grow up healthy.
Learn how the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the States’ Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies applied innovative methods to create a web-based locator tool to match kids enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP with oral health providers who will treat them. More details...
Electronic Patient Tracking in Disasters
In the face of a natural or man-made disaster, health care providers need to track patient counts, patient severity status, and patient location to make timely decisions.
The Bethesda Hospitals' Emergency Preparedness Partnership Patient Tracking and Locating System is an exportable suite of electronic tools that significantly advances the ability of hospitals to manage high volumes of incoming patients. More details...
Leveraging the Public to Catch Fugitives
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is pursuing 170-plus fugitives who have defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars. Focusing attention on these health care criminals via the Most Wanted Health Care Fugitives Website effectively harnesses a previously untapped resource: the public.
Find out how public attention helps catch the crooks who steal our tax dollars. More details ...
Bridging the CHASM of Health Disparities
Community Health and Service Missions (CHASM) addresses the needs of underserved populations and builds communities’ health infrastructure while providing essential emergency management and response training for the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). More details ...
