Considering the fact that CIVHC 's expansive charge is to improve the quality of care and bend the cost curve for health care across the state of Colorado, many people wonder why CIVHC has committed to an effort so specific as improving access to high quality palliative care, especially at such an early stage in our organization's development. Perhaps an organization such as CIVHC should be more focused on "big picture" issues in Colorado, by identifying where we have the greatest opportunities to impact the quality and cost of care for the largest segments of our population. In 2008, the members of CIVHC's planning committee took on that exercise, and identified palliative care as one of those opportunities.

Last month I had the pleasure of representing CIVHC at the International Roundtable for Community Paramedics (IRCP) conference in Vancouver, Canada. My friends and family were a bit surprised (and somewhat jealous!) to learn I was travelling out of the country for a conference. I explained that CIVHC identifies and promotes innovative solutions to address Colorado's health care crisis, and the IRCP is the only conference that focuses exclusively on the up and coming community paramedic model. Community paramedic programs, although relatively new to the US, have proven successful in improving health and saving costs, and CIVHC is identifying how this model might fill gaps across Colorado.

Practices interested in participating in the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI) in Colorado, must apply by July 20th, 2012. Any rumors about a deadline extension are false - the July 20 deadline stands. As of last week, 180 Colorado practices had successfully completed the pre-screening tool and 85 applications were in process. It's taking most practices at least an hour to complete the application, and some do have questions and need assistance, so please file early!