Kelly Halkyard, Director of Practice Transformation

From September 2018 to 2019, the Connecticut Practice Transformation Network (CT PTN) completed their fourth and final year of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Transforming Clinical Practices Initiative (TCPi).

16 health centers in Connecticut participated in PTN, of which 12 health centers completed all 5 phases of the program, designed to prepare practices for value based payment arrangements.

As a way of measuring the impact of Practice Transformation efforts, the CT PTN focused on 5 performance areas in accordance with the TCPi goals:

• diabetes control,
• proper medication for persistent asthmatics,
• reducing unnecessary hospitalizations,
• reducing unnecessary testing, and
• reducing total cost of care.

CT PTN met and exceeded all of their commitments to CMS.

Cumulative results are as follows:

• 2,723 lives improved for patients with diabetes,
• 2,887 lives improved for patients with persistent asthma,
• 28,483 unnecessary hospitalizations avoided, and
• total cost-of-care savings of $108,414,503.

CHCACT used a combination of resources to provide technical assistance to health centers around practice transformation. The CHCACT team provided individualized technical assistance to each health center at monthly meetings with their assigned Quality Improvement Advisor.

Additionally, CHCACT leveraged CMS resources, such as CMS National Faculty and Support and Alignment Network (SAN) trainings. There were also a number of in-person and virtual education and networking events.

The CT PTN is proud of the shared learning network of Connecticut health centers created through this program.

Educational events took place throughout the 2019 year including: Quality Improvement trainings in partnership with the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), a financial acumen series featuring Dr. Sarah Chouinard, CMS National faculty, and cultural humility trainings led by Health Equity solutions.

There were also a series of cohorts that provided focused shared learning on topics such as Population Health Management, Diabetes, and Care Teams. In December 2018, Dr. Tess Lombard, CMO at Staywell Health Center was named CMS National Faculty.

CHCACT has showcased the outstanding performance of its member health centers at the following events:

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Quality Conference
• The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) Policy & Issues (P&I) Forum
• NACHC Diabetes Performance analysis training webinar
• TCPi Exposition
• NACHC Community Health Institute (CHI)
• CT Medical Assistance Program Oversight Council (MAPOC)

In August, CHCACT and Charter Oak Health Center staff attended the CMS TCPi Exposition in Baltimore, Maryland. Charter Oak was celebrated for their benchmark performance around reducing unnecessary Emergency Department utilization, obtained through expanded urgent care hours. Additionally, Dr. Tess Lombard from Staywell Health Center attended as a TCPi National Faculty member.

Later in August, CHCACT presented at the National Association for Community Health Centers (NACHC) annual Community Health Institute (CHI) event in Chicago on their PTN results and partnership with NACHC on the Elevate learning program.

In September, Sherri Morgan-Johnson and John Scanlon, representatives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), visited Charter Oak Health Center and Generations Family Health Center.

During their visits, they heard reflections from health center staff on their transformation journey and insights into the challenges they faced. Sherri Morgan-Johnson assisted the CT PTN team in recognizing the Exemplary, Early Exemplary, and Improvement practices at the CHCACT Community Health Summit on September 13th.

Contact me for more information about CT PTN!

~ Kelly