In June 2012, PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center (partnering with PeaceHealth Medical Group) was approved by CMS for a three-year Health Care Innovation award of $3.1M to improve primary care coordination for patients with chronic disease in rural southeast Alaska. Increased use of a nurse practitioner and four care coordinators is extending the care teams' reach to patients and allowing for a greater opportunity to collaborate with additional staff towards improving population health. The program will initially focus on high-risk patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure and other preventive conditions.
The projects RN clinical educator is working closely with the University of Alaska in Ketchikan to develop training curriculum for medical office assistants that serve rural communities. Funding permits PeaceHealth to employ eight employees, train an estimated 28 existing employees, and increase access to its clinic by 20%.
