Grants

Dr Zweifler has a long and successful track record in writing and procuring grants related to medical education, public health and health equity, and clinical care. A common theme is conceptualizing practical approaches to solve real-world problems. Recent examples include grants that established a network of community health workers to screen for and address access to care and social determinants of health, and another that supports low barrier medication-assisted treatment for patients with substance use disorders that leverages telehealth and team-based approaches.

Advancing Health Literacy in West Fresno County. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH). $3,000,000 7-1-21 to 6-30-2023

Low Barrier Medication Assisted Treatment. Submitted on behalf of the San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic and Needle Exchange. Sierra Health Foundation. $347,000 3-1-2023 to 6-30-2024

Presentations

RECENT PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS

Dr Zweifler continues to share his thoughts on a range of topics, including value-based care, population health, and social determinants of health. Below are recent presentations and publications.

Presenter - Pediatric and Adolescent Health Disparities. 2024 Health Disparities Summit, Community Medical Centers and UCSF-Fresno. March 22, 2024

Presenter - Prevention, Testing, and Treatment for RSV and SARS-CoV-2 Infections. Fresno Chapter of the California Association for Medical Laboratory Technology annual weekend seminar series. March 17, 2023.

Presenter - Telehealth Low Barrier Medication Assisted Treatment. Low Barrier Opioid Treatment at Syringe Services Program, Virtual Grantee Convening. The Center, Sierra Health Foundation. Nov 6, 2023

Presenter - Fentanyl, Opioids, and Substance Use Disorders. Quarterly Meeting of Fresno County Librarians. October 31, 2023

Presenter - Enhanced Standard Precautions in Skilled Nursing Facilities. Skilled Nursing Facility Infection Prevention Two Day Course. Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency in partnership with the California Dept of Public Health. Visalia, Ca. October 24, 2023

Presenter - A Young Child with Rash and his Pregnant Mother. UCSF Pediatric Infectious Diseases Wednesday Morning Weekly Division Conference. Rongkavilit C, Zweifler J. Sept 6, 2023

Panelist - Addiction Medicine Updates. Expert Panel #1. Clovis, Ca. August 26, 2023

Presenter - Central Valley Emerging Issues in Public Health Consortium. “Fresno County Measles Update”. August 8, 2023

Presenter - “Leveraging Value Based Care to Improve Health of Populations”. Continuing Education presentation for MedPRO Annual Physicians Meeting. Nov 9, 2022

Presenter - “CalAIM: A Case Study in Addressing Health Equity and Social Determinants for High-Risk Populations in California”. Health Care Council of Chicago. Pillar Roundtable. Virtual Meeting. Nov 1, 2022

Presenter - “Health in Times of Value Based Care”. SS&C Deliver Conference. Orlando, Fla. Oct 4, 2022

Presenter - “Monoclonal Antibodies and COVID- 19: What you need to know”. Nephrology Symposium 2021. Fresno Madera Medical Society. Fresno, California. Oct 16, 2021

Panel Member: Panel Discussion - Meeting of the Minds: Health Disparities Across the Ecosystem. Healthcare Businesswoman’s Association, Downtown Chicago Chapter. Virtual. Sept 23, 2021

Co-Presenter: Disparities in Disease Prevalence Based on Racial Differences by Zip Code. 2021 Society of Actuaries Health Meeting. Virtual. June 15, 2021

E-Poster Poster Title: Success in TeAHM!: A study on a quality improvement project on Team approach in Health Maintenance (TeAHM) at the Hanford Family Medicine Residency Clinic (FMC)  Beddoe, R., Bong, J., Fong, K., Golez, C., Krishna, V., Lwin, P., Zweifler, J.2020. AAFP Family Medicine Experience (FMX) Virtual event. October 13-17, 2020

Dr. Zweifler participated in an online webinar sponsored by Ca Bridge that focused on "Telehealth for Opioid Use Disorder". He discussed "Telehealth, how exactly do we pay for it?" - May 19, 2020

Dr. Zweifler was the featured presenter in an online Webinar sponsored by The Terry Group where he discussed, “COVID-19: Population Health in Times of Crisis” - April 15, 2020

“To limit future pandemics, U.S. must move beyond the medical insurance industry.” Published in the Fresno Bee - March 20, 2020

Dr. Zweifler spoke about “A Population Health Approach to Quality Improvement” at the 2019 Star Ratings & Quality Improvement Summit in Scottsdale, AZ - Jan. 27, 2020

Dr Zweifler presented on “Population Health”, and was a Panel Discussion Participant at the San Diego Forum on Population Health (organized by Stemedica) in San Diego, CA - Sept. 18, 2019

Dr Zweifler spoke about “Population Health” at the Continuing Education Conference for Adventist Health Central Valley Network in Lemoore, CA - Sept. 13, 2019

Dr. Zweifler covered “Tipping Health Care in the Right Direction: Addressing Social Determinants and Health Disparities with Population Health” at the 2019 Value-Based Healthcare Congress in Scottsdale, AZ - Sept. 9-10, 2019

Dr. Zweifler covered “Population Health” at Adventist Health Central Valley Network’s Directors Retreat in Coalinga, CA - Aug. 22, 2019

Dr. Zweifler was the keynote speaker and covered "Improving Quality with Population Health" at the 2019 Star Rating and Quality Management Forum (sponsored by the World Conference Forum) in San Diego, CA - July 25, 2019

Dr. Zweifler spoke about “The Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Star Ratings” at the 2019 Star Ratings & Quality Improvement Summit in Scottsdale, AZ - Jan. 28, 2019

Panel Member “Best Practices to Achieve Star Ratings” at the 2019 Star Ratings & Quality Improvement Summit in Scottsdale, AZ - Jan. 28, 2019

Dr. Zweifler was a panelist and tabletop presented about
“Food Matters - Improving Food Access and Security in the Central Valley” at the California Dept. of Social Services Promising Practices Exchange in Merced, CA - Sept. 19, 2018

Dr. Zweifler presented "Tipping Health Care in the Right Direction" at the Hanford Rotary Club in Hanford, CA - Aug. 16, 2018

Dr. Zweifler presented "From Worst to First - A Case Study in HEDIS Improvement" at the Government Programs and Risk, Compliance, Privacy & Security Health Plan Alliance in San Francisco, CA - Aug. 9, 2018

"Tipping Health Care in the Right Direction"
Published in the Fresno Bee, April 5, 2018

Prior Publications

HEALTH CARE DELIVERY

• Ozga, J. E., Syvertsen, J. L., Zweifler, J. A., & Pollini, R. A. (2021). A community-based study of abscess self-treatment and barriers to medical care among people who inject drugs in the United States. Health & Social Care in the Community, 00, 1– 11.

• “Effect of Medicaid Managed Care on Training Programs” Am J Manag Care, 2001;7:509-515

• “Physicians and Pharmaceutical Representatives: Too Close for Comfort” Zweifler J. Invited Commentary, Ann Fam Med January 28, 2005

• “Vaginal Birth After Cesarean in California: Before and After a Change in Guidelines” Zweifler J, Garza A, Hughes S, Stanich MA, Hierholzer A, Lau M. Ann Fam Med 2006; 4: 228-234

• “The Missing Link: Improving Quality with a Chronic Disease Management Intervention for the Primary Care Office” Zweifler J. Ann Fam Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;5(5):453-6

• “Trends in Rural and Urban Deliveries and Vaginal Births: California 1998-2002” Hughes S, Zweifler J, Garza A, Stanich M. Journal of Rural Health. Fall 2008. Vol 24, No. 4. 416-422

MEDICAL EDUCATION

• “Extended Educational Sessions at Three Family Medicine Residency Programs” Academic Medicine, October, 1996

• “Medical Education in a Changing World: Thoughts From California” Family Medicine, Vol. 30, No. 2, February, 1998

• “Development of a Residency/MPH Program” Zweifler J, Evans RA. Fam Med 2001;33(6):453-8

• “Point-Counterpoint: The Argument for a 2-Year Versus a 4-Year Family Medicine Residency” Zweifler J. Fam Med 2005;37(5):345-6

• “The Ethics of Reducing Family Medicine Training to Two Years” Zweifler J. Virtual Mentor. Ethics Journal of the AMA June 2005, Volume 7, Number 6

• “The Relationship between a Statewide Preceptorship Program and Family Medicine Residency Selection” Kubal V, Zweifler J, Hughes S, Reilly JM; Newman S. J Am Board Fam Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;23(1):67-74.PMID: 20051544

• “Why We Should Reduce Family Practice Training to Two Years” Zweifler J,.Acad Med 2003;78:885-887

• “Preparing for Managed Care:  Family Practice Residents in Capitated Care in Community Health Centers”  Journal for Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Vol. 9, No. 4, 367-380, 1998

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

• “Controlling for race/ethnicity: a comparison of California commercial health plans CAHPS scores to NCBD benchmarks” John Zweifler, Susan Hughes and Rebeca A Lopez.
  International Journal for Equity in Health 2010, 9:4 (25 January 2010)

• “Parental Satisfaction Without Antibiotics” White D, Moir A, Zweifler J, Hughes S. Nurse Pract. 2010 Mar;35(3):40-2

PATIENT CARE

• “A community-based study of abscess self-treatment and barriers to medical care among people who inject drugs in the United States.” Ozga, J. E., Syvertsen, J. L., Zweifler, J. A., & Pollini, R. A. (2021). Health & Social Care in the Community, 00, 1– 11.

• “Are Sample Medicines Hurting the Uninsured?” Zweifler J, Hughes S, Schafer S, Garcia B, Grasser A, & Salazar L, JABFP, 2002;15(5):361-366.

• “Effects of echinacea on the frequency of upper respiratory tract symptoms: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial” O’neil J, Hughes S, Lourie A, Zweifler. Ann Allery Asthma Immunol. 2008;100:384-388

• “Objective Evidence of Severe Disease: Opioid Use in Chronic Pain” Zweifler J. Ann Fam Med 2012 Jul-Aug;10(4):366-8

• “The Significance of Harm Reduction as a Social and Health Care Intervention for Injecting Drug Users: An Exploratory Study of a Needle Exchange Program in Fresno, California” Clarke C, Zweifler J, Harris D, Lasher M, Mortimer R, Hughes S. Page 398-407 Social Work in Public Health Volume 31 2016 - Issue 5 Published online: 11 May 2016

• “The Missing Link: Improving Quality with a Chronic Disease Management Intervention for the Primary Care Office” Zweifler J. Ann Fam Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;5(5):453-6

• “Are Sample Medicines Hurting the Uninsured?” Zweifler J, Hughes S, Schafer S, Garcia B, Grasser A, & Salazar L, JABFP, 2002;15(5):361-366

CARE FOR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

• “Teaching Residents to Care for Culturally Diverse Populations” Academic Medicine, Vol. 73, No. 10, pp. 1056-1061, October 1998

• “High School Census Tract Information Predicts Rural and High Minority Practice” Hughes S, Zweifler J, Schafer S, Smith MA, Athol S, Blossom HJ. J Rural Health. 2005 Summer;21(3):228-32. PMID: 16092296

• “Creating an Effective and Efficient Public Sponsored Health Care Delivery System” Zweifler J, Prado K, Metchnikoff C. Journal for Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. Volume 22, Number 1, February 2011, pp. 311-319