The Consortium of MS Centers: Improving the Quality of MS Care

The Consortium of MS Centers is an organization dedicated to bringing together the various MS Centers from around the country (and increasingly the rest of the world) to discuss scientific and practice issues facing our patients and to figure out how to improve the quality of care we deliver. We tackled issues such as Primary Progressive MS (PPMS), Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO), and even how to make sure that healthcare providers don't burn out.

We used this meeting to establish the Southeastern MS Consortium (seMSc), a regional coalition of healthcare providers interested in MS, with the mission of improving MS research, education and patient care in the Southeastern United States. Other regions in the country are planning on following our model on how we can improve MS care by working together more closely. This includes not only big MS centers, but also solo neurologists with an interest in MS. There are great training courses at the national Consortium of MS Centers, but if, for example, physical therapists from rural areas do not make it out to that meeting, we would still like to ensure that there is standardization of MS care throughout the region and the country. MS patients in big cities, small towns, and rural areas should all have the same level of care.

This issue of equality of healthcare is central to the debate on universal healthcare (for more info on the presidential candidates' positions on healthcare check out HealthCare08). In order to ensure that all Americans have equal access to healthcare, we need to work harder at ensuring that all Americans have equal access to other aspects of life - like education and security. We cannot strive for one without the other two, all three (security, health and education) are interlinked and by improving all three, we will eventually be able to improve our economy and advance America as a global superpower.

If you would like to find out more about how your neurologist and other healthcare providers can get involved in the seMSc, please email mstar.mspn@gmail.com.