Practice Newsletter - December 2014
Care Transformation Collaborative of Rhode Island, Formally CSI-RI
2015 Asthma Educator Institute (AEI)

What:AEI Preparatory Course for Asthma Educator Certification

When: February 5-6, 2015

Where: RI Department of Administration, Conference Room B

Useful Resources 

New Workshop and Tools Available to Support Shared Decision Making 

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed the SHARE Approach, a five-step process for shared decision making to help clinicians meaningfully engage patients in their care.

AHRQ is offering train the trainer workshops focused on implementation the SHARE Approach into clinical practice with patient decision tools from AHRQ. Participants will receive information tools and guidance to teach other clinicians in their organization about shared decision making. 

New Primary Care Team Guide 
Improving Primary Care: A guide to better care through teamwork is a program designed to help practices build effective health care teams and redesign patient care to become a more productive and effective practice. Developed by the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation the program is presented though a series of modules that focus on the people and the work needed to function as a high performing team.
 

Upcoming Events

Emergency Medical Countermeasure Dispersing in RI: What You Need to Know (Webinar) 
January 8, 2015 8:30am-9:30am 

2015 Transgender Medicine Conference 
January 10, 2015, 7:30am-4:30pm at the Warren Alpert Medical School, Providence RI 

Using Learning Theory to Improve Your Teaching Procedural Skills
January 21, 2015, 5:00pm-7:00pm at the Warren Alpert Medical School, Providence RI

Upcoming Meetings:

December 23, 2014 1:00-3:00pm 
Practice Facilitation (BCBS) 

 

January 2, 2015 7:30-9:00am 

CTC-RI Leadership Meeting (Conference Call) 


 January 6, 2015 7:30-9:00am 

Data and Evaluation  

(Memorial Hospital, 111 Brewster St., Pawtucket 

Center for Primary Care Bldg, 2nd floor)


 January 9, 2014 7:30-9:00am 

CSC-RI Steering Committee (RIQI)


 January 9, 2015 9:30-10:30am 

Community Health Team (RIQI) 


 January 12, 2015 8:00-9:30am 

NCM Best Practice Sharing (RIQI)


 January 12, 2015 1:00-3:00pm  

Practice Facilitation (RIQI)

 

January 15, 2015 3:30-5:00pm

 Integrated Behavioral Health Workgroup (RIQI) 

 

January 16, 2015 8:30-9:30am

CTC-RI Leadership Meeting (Conference Call) 

 

January 19, 2015 7:00 - 8:30am 

South County Steering 

(S. County Hospital 3rd floor) 


 

January 23, 2015 7:00-9:00am

Board of Directors 

(BVCSC 39 East Avenue, Pawtucket) 


 

January 23, 2015 9:30-10:30am

Community Health Team
(BVCSC 39 East Avenue, Pawtucket) 


 

January 26, 2015 9:00-10:30am 

Program Evaluation (RIQI) 


 

January 27, 2015  8:30-9:30am

Practice Reporting *7:30 - 8:30 New Practices*

(301 Metro Center Blvd, Warwick,

Room 203) 

 

January 27, 2015 8:30-9:00am 

Contracting Committee (RIQI) 

 

January 27, 2015 1:00-3:00pm

Practice Facilitation (BCBS)

 

For meeting information or to receive a calendar invite, please contact: Cathy Sampson, [email protected]

; 508-421-5919

CTC of Rhode Island
508-421-5919
Rhode Island Foundation
One Union Station
Providence, RI 02903
Welcome to the Care Transformation Collaborative of Rhode Island (formally the Rhode Island Chronic Care Sustainability Initiative) Practice Newsletter, where CTC shares exciting updates, news, milestones, meeting information and more with our CTC practices.
CSI-RI Announces Name Change to CTC
The Rhode Island Chronic Care Sustainability Initiative is proud to announce that they have changed their name to the Care Transformation Collaborative of Rhode Island (CTC). The change was made to reflect CTC's commitment to transforming the broader delivery of health care throughout the state, reaching levels beyond adult primary care. 

Debra Hurwitz the MBA, BSN, RN and co-director of CTC states, "We know that primary care needs to address the whole person. We are expanding our focus to include behavioral health and are piloting Community Health Teams that act as an extension of the primary care team, providing outreach and social support to high risk patients". 

CTC will continue to focus around transforming primary care practices into patient-centered medical homes. CTC is excited about these new changes and will continue to enhance care quality, access and management of patient care, as well as team-based comprehensive and preventative care.

For more information about CTC's name change please click here. 
Health Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Hittner Releases Proposed Revisions for the Affordability Standards
In 2013, the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC) completed an evaluation on the effectiveness and appropriateness of the Affordability Standards. The evaluation found that the Standards have been successful in accelerating the primary care patient centered medical home transformation efforts and slowed the rate of hospital cost increases. 

The OHIC Summary Document addressed the revised Affordability Standards 
which are intended to increase the affordability of health insurance and improve the efficacy of the delivery system, with particular emphasis on providing integrated population based care. Details of OHIC Regulation 2 can be found at here.

Practice Spotlight: Thundermist Health Center

Danielle Plant, Manager of the Thundermist Health Center (THC) Call Center, together with Nicole Quindazzi, VP of Operations and Chuck Jones, CEO, recently presented the work they have done to improve customer service at a recent CTC Practice Transformation Committee meeting. Danielle described all the work that needed to happen behind the scenes to provide the best customer service including conducting a staffing analysis, revising the staffing plan and hours of operations, providing staff education and most importantly, implementing standardized scheduling protocols across all three sites. 


Key attributes of the THC Centralized Call Center include providing first call resolution, doing what needs to be done to serve the customer and maintaining service level of eighty percent of calls answered within 90 seconds. 

THC has generously offered to share the work they have done (including the standardized 
scheduling protocols) for other CTC practices interested in this practice transformation effort. View the presentation here.  

NCQA Corner: Documentation Needed for Meeting 2014 NCQA Standards 

As practices prepare for meeting the 2014 NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home Standards, it is helpful to be aware of the new documentation requirements. 

 

CTC staff prepared a 2014 NCQA summary document that includes what types of documentation are required for the different factors. 

 

Other important tips to consider whether applying under 2011 or 2014 Standards: 

Report Data, Files, Examples and Materials: Practice will want to display information that is current within the last 12 months 

Documented Process: Policies, procedures and processes should be in place for at least 3 months prior to survey submission 

Reporting Period (Meaningful Use): Practice will want to use a recent 3 month period (current within the last 12 months) 

 

Reporting Period (Log or Report): Practice will want to refer to documentation guidelines for other references to minimum data for logs and reports (one week, one month, etc.) 

 

Remember that all documents must show dates. 

Practices that are currently in Start-up phase of the developmental contract s are expected to submit for NCQA recognition (2011) by March 31, 2015. All practice policies will need to be in effect by January 1, 2015. 

Stay Tuned: Different CTC Committees will be highlighting different aspects of the 2014 Standards to help prepare practices for meeting the changing requirements and strengthen practices' ability to provide patient-centered care.

CurrentCare Update

As 2014 draws to a close, the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI) reports that over 437,000 people - nearly 4% of the state's population - are enrolled in CurrentCare Rhode Island's statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE). 

CurrentCare integrates information from over 78 data sources including 90% of  RI prescription data, 90% of lab data, and data from all the acute care hospitals in the state with the exception of the VA.

 

Recently, a work-group was formed at RIQI to strategize ways to increase enrollment of Medicaid beneficiaries. The work-group is facilitated by Amy Zimmerman, Rhode Island's Health IT Coordinator, and Darlene Morris, Director of the Regional Extension Center at RIQI.  Community participants include Tri-Town Community Action Agency, Neighborhood Health Plan of RI, UnitedHealthcare, PCMH Kids, Thundermist Health Center, and Comprehensive Community Action Program (CCAP).


 If you are already an enrollment partner, please continue to educate your patients about the benefits of enrolling in CurrentCare. If you would like more information on how to start enrolling your patients, please contact the RI Regional Extension Center at 1-888-858-4815 or Email: [email protected]