An Impact Story: Sells Service Unit’s Response to H1N1

In April 2009, reports of an unknown flu-like illness began surfacing in nations outside of the United States. By month’s end, the first cases of what we now know to be the novel influenza virus, H1N1, had been reported in the United States. Situated near the Arizona-Mexico border, the early clustering of the reported cases in Mexico was particularly relevant to the Sells Service Unit and the Tucson area. On April 27, 2009, the Sells Service Unit activated their Emergency Operations Center and developed an action plan utilizing the Care Model for the Improving Patient Care (IPC) Program to serve as the framework for their response.

The Sells Service Unit (SSU) staff shared that the relationships and trust they have built with the patients, community, and community partners over the past few years within the IPC Program served as the foundation for their ability to responds to this outbreak. The SSU developed a prepared, proactive care team that included important community partners such as the Tohono O’odham Nation Health Departments, Tucson Area Office, the State of Arizona, Pima County, Border Patrol, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To assist patients, families and the community to also be prepared and proactive, the SSU also partnered with the Tohono O’odham Nation District Chairpersons, the local radio stations, and school health programs. With the goal of establishing a patient-centered and effective response, the Sells Care Team focused energy into:  Decision Support: They acted on the scientific evidence and patient preferences to guide their clinical care response.  Delivery System Design: They considered systems and processes of care to identify those that would provide effective and efficient care.  Computer Information System: The effectively utilized the Indian Health Service RPMS system and information received from the county, state, and nation to organize patient and population data to facilitate effective and efficient care.  Self-Management Support: They strove to prepare and empower patients to manage their own health and health care options in the face of this novel illness.

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In a situation that with a clear potential for a reactive response, the SSU coupled the knowledge, skills, and experience gained through their involvement in the IPC Program with the relationships and trust that their ongoing work to improve the care, health, and wellness of the Tohono O’odham Nation to marshal a thoughtful and directed response to the H1N1 outbreak.