CHCACT held its annual Uniform Data System (UDS) training on Tuesday, October 24^th, attended by approximately 55 staff members from 15 CT health centers.

Each year health centers must report on a variety of performance measures outlined by the federal Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). These UDS measures include demographic data, as well as financial viability, efficiency, and a number of quality of care clinical measures.

Christina Del Vecchio
Clinical Programs Coordinator

CHCACT partnered with John Snow Research and Training Institute to provide the health centers with a training on how to analyze and maximize the use their 2016 UDS Data. Health centers had the opportunity to learn about how to access their UDS reports, how to interpret the data, and how to use the data to improve health center operations. Health centers also examined their performance compared to other health centers in the state and at the national level.

During the training, participants also learned ways to validate their data and understand whether inconsistencies were due to gaps in data or gaps in services. Participants also took part in a group activity to identify quality areas they are currently working on, and ways to improve performance in those areas. In addition, participants worked on identifying barriers to increasing performance, such as not reporting the right information to the right people, and ways to overcome those barriers.

During the afternoon session, health centers chose to focus on improving diabetes outcomes. Health centers had the opportunity to share best practices with each other and work on putting together an implementation plan to improve services. Health centers also collaborated with each other on how to evaluate the implementation plan and outcomes of the plan.

Participants have shared positive feedback on the training!

For more information on UDS go to https://bphc.hrsa.gov/datareporting/reporting/index.html