Mission Critical Health is a publisher of evidence-based educational content.
The National Academy of Medicine defines health literacy as "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions".
National survey data have revealed that over 80 million Americans have low health literacy which can be directly linked to higher rates of mortality and is associated with medication errors, increased hospital admissions, unnecessary emergency room visits, and underutilization of preventive measures. Negative health outcomes associated with low health literacy are all related to higher healthcare costs.
Mission Critical Health provides a multidisciplinary team of expert health literacy researchers, consultants, and practitioners dedicated to improving population health by making health information more engaging and easy to understand.
Formal evaluation using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) and readability assessments using multiple validated formulas.
Plain language assessment of content in English followed by an interpretation assessment and translation into clear and effective Spanish language.
Field testing services contribute to user-centered design and ensures health materials are vetted by the patients who will eventually use them.