PTN - Community Health Center Association of Connecticut, Inc.

The Community Health Center Association of Connecticut (CHCACT) Practice Transformation Network will focus on supporting 2,245 clinicians to expand their quality improvement capacity, learn from one another, and achieve common goals of improved care, better health, and reduced cost. The network builds upon FQHC Person Centered Medical Home recognition to enhance team-based care delivery, integration of specialty/behavioral health with primary care, resource coordination and population health through training, technical assistance, data sharing and collaborative learning. CHCACT’s program will focus on improving health outcomes for three conditions common to health center patients: asthma, diabetes and hypertension. Overall, CHCACT expects this investment to improve the health of FQHC patients while saving over $38 million in the health care system.

This grant will provide FQHCs with a number of benefits, including resources with a commitment to participation and transparency. It is part of an overall commitment to deliver the following primary benefits to our FQHCs:

1. Practices receive a 3rd-party readiness assessment – in other words, to what extent is your FQHC ready to adopt best practices, take on learning, and commit to data-driven process improvement activity?
2. Practices receive on-the-ground support in the form of resources designed to bring operational improvements to the organization. Examples: 
   • QI Lead to interface with senior leadership and PCMH leads
   • Practice Transformation Specialist to bring process improvement activity into the clinical setting
   • Information Services Specialist to facilitate the use of data in all improvement activity
3. Efforts are designed to support clinicians to work to the full extent of their license and training.
4. Practices receive extensive free training at all levels of the organization and gain access to a national learning collaborative.
5. Practices gain access to tools and resources created by subject matter experts to enhance clinical performance, data reporting, communication, and other processes.
6. Practices gain access to performance data. 
   • Clinical performance data is available through on-line portal which will provide real-time results against measurement criteria.
   • Data set is available by provider, by practice, and in aggregate. 
   • Data analytics can support targeted interventions for high-cost patients and/or conditions. 
   • Benchmarks are shared across participating sites.
7. Practices can use PTN as a leadership development opportunity for employees.

Additional Resources:

• Community Health Center Association of Connecticut PTN Description
• Community Health Center Association of Connecticut PTN Press Release