Resource Search Results

Managing Your Health Center's Cost of Care (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This session focused on the factors that influence the cost of care, providing information from new resources – a Capital Link study examining four-year trends across a series of cost-focused ratios and an updated NACHC issue brief providing a methodology for calculating costs. More Details...

Cost Per Visit: Measuring Health Center Performance (2018). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Developed by Capital Link and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) as an update to NACHC’s original 2003 publication,Cost Per Visit – Measuring Health Center Performance, reviews in detail the process and methodology for calculating the component costs of care with a focus on cost per visit across all service lines — medical, dental, mental health (including substance abuse), and vision services. It also examines methods for reducing health center costs through population health management, global payment methodologies, and tying reimbursements to outcomes. More Details...

Payment Innovation and Health Center Dental Programs: Case Studies from Three States (2018). Resource Type: Publication. Description: As dental care reimbursement follows the trends of healthcare overall towards value-based payment reimbursement, lessons from pioneers in dental payment innovation will inform effective health center strategies that will both strengthen the dental safety network and improve the oral health of the communities they serve. This document outlines interviews from organizations in three states on how health center dental programs are adapting clinical care systems under payment innovation incentives. More Details...

Effective Partnerships Guide: Improving Oral Health for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Children and their Families (2018). Resource Type: Publication. Description: The purpose of this guide is to create an opportunity for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs and health centers to learn more about each other’s programs, share resources, foster new partnerships and strengthen ones already in place. Although the guide focuses primarily on oral health, information about medical health services is included. More Details...

Enabling Services Data Collection Implementation Packet: Enabling Services Accountability Project (2017). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: This toolkit includes tools and recommendations for how health centers can better capture data on enabling services (ES). This will help health centers provide a better understanding of the role of ES in health care access, utilization and outcomes for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs), and useful information to appropriately address these needs. More Details...

Promising Practices Report: Community Outreach and Education Efforts of the Metta Health Center Program Within the Lowell Community Health Center (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This report describes the development of a culturally tailored outreach and health education program through the use of radio and public access TV programming by the Metta Health Center Program in Lowell, MA. The health center has been recognized by the Office of Minority health as an exemplar provider of culturally competent care in meeting and exceeding all the standards set forth in the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care. More Details...

HITEQ Health App Decision Tree: A tool developed In collaboration with the Children's Health Fund to help choose appropriate Health Apps (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: There are thousands of consumer health applications health apps, which run on smartphones, watches, tablets, and other mobile devices. These Health Apps are available for download for general consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. Currently, there is no governmental agency that provides certification or guidance on health apps, although there are several projects from organizations such as HL7, the FDA, ONC, and OCR that are working to provide guidance. User discrepancy in terms of the validity and safety of the health apps they choose to use are primarily based on ratings or recommendations. This guide seeks to provide a health app decision tree that can assist medical professionals and consumers in making wise choices when using health apps. There are thousands of consumer health applications health apps, which run on smartphones, watches, tablets, and other mobile devices. These health apps are available for download for general consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. Currently, there is no governmental agency that provides certification or guidance on health apps, although there are several projects from organizations such as HL7, the FDA, ONC, and OCR that are working to provide guidance. User discrepancy in terms of the validity and safety of the health apps they choose to use are primarily based on ratings or recommendations. This guide seeks to provide a health app decision tree that can assist medical professionals and consumers in making wise choices when using health apps. The Children's Health Fund was made aware of a use case in which a health app that was targeted for use by adults was used for a child and consequently caused a detrimental health issue. Currently there are no certifying bodies for consumer-oriented health apps and consequently many doctors must navigate this domain themselves. This guide seeks to provide a health app decision tree that can assist medical professionals and consumers in making wise choices when using health apps. Download the decision tree below. More Details...

Growing Our Own: Cultivating the Next Generation of Primary Care Physicians in Community Health Centers (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: It is critical to advance policies and programs that help community health centers (CHCs) become Educational Health Centers (EHCs)2 and “grow their own” primary care training opportunities. This paper explores several pathways for promoting CHCs as teaching environments - enhanced partnerships between Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) and CHCs (with either the AMC or the CHC as the sponsoring institution3), and CHCs participating in HRSA Teaching Health Center (THC) funding opportunities (with sponsorship either by the CHC alone or by a consortium body) - and posits a spectrum of options and costs associated with each of these pathways to train medical residents. More Details...

ICD-10 Z-Codes for Social Determinants of Health: A quick reference guide for providers and health care leaders (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This resource will equip health center stakeholders with the understanding of how standardized social determinants of health (SDoH) data can be used and which ICD10 z-codes are pertinent as a standardized SDoH data set. This resource describes ways standardized social determinant of health (SDoH) data can be used and provides a quick reference guide to which ICD-10 codes can help document standardized SDoH data.  Download here or below. More Details...

ACO 101 (2017). Resource Type: elearning. Description: Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high quality care to the patients they serve. A successful ACO puts the patient at the center of all its activities and ensure coordination of care. This 60 minute webinar will provide the basics of what an ACO is and what it is not, what the expectations are of participoants in an ACO, and how success is measured. More Details...

Outreach and Value-Based Care (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: HOP’s new resource Outreach & Value-Based Care: Impacting Health Care Delivery and Cost through Integrated Community Health Outreach Programs, describes how health centers can use their outreach teams to enhance value under service delivery models such as Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) and Accountable Care Organizations. It offers examples of how outreach programs can enhance revenues from alternative payment models such as shared savings, pay-for-performance, and PCMH supplemental payments. The resource is a complement to HOP’s Outreach Business Value Toolkit. More Details...

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI)-Serving Health Centers and Medicaid (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet outlines the impact of potential cuts to Medicaid on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs) and health centers. More Details...

HITEQ-Social-Determinants-Data-Infographic-2017: Coding Social Determinants of Health (SDH) for Optimizing Value (2017). Resource Type: Other. Description: SDH coding is important for clinical management and outcomes reporting for payment reform and value based payment (particularly capitate payment), as well as other policy work. SDH coding begins with care providers, who often may need to understand how these data can be used to benefit not only the patient they are serving but also the broader population served by the organization. More Details...

Coding Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) for Optimizing Value: An Infographic for Providers on the Benefits of Coding for SDH (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: The purpose of the infographic is to describe how SDH data would be used for a variety of goals that would have traction with the clinic staff audience who may likely need to modify workflows and behavior in order to collect such data.  The visual case could be used in presentations or hung on a provider break room wall. SDH coding is important for clinical management and outcomes reporting for payment reform and value based payment (particularly capitate payment), as well as other policy work. SDH coding begins with care providers, who often may need to understand how these data can be used to benefit not only the patient they are serving but also the broader population served by the organization. More Details...

Why Collect Standardized Data on Social Determinants of Health?: A slide deck outlining the potential use of ICD10 coding for SDOH. (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This resource will equip health center stakeholders with the motivation, knowledge, and ability needed to collect and use standardized social determinants of health data. This resource describes the importance of collecting Standardized SDOH Data in the context of value based payment.  The resource reviews commonly used codes in ICD-10 that can help document SDOH.  Finally, the slide deck describes useful tools for collecting these data and what’s on the horizon for health centers to strengthen their efforts to move “upstream” in addressing health disparities. Download this slide deck below. More Details...

Current Population Health Management in Health Centers: The Case for Implementing Population Health Management and Addressing the Social Determinants of Health (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This is a 27-slide module on population health management in the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). The module provides several examples of current initiatives that support PHM and SDM as well as the use of these concept in supporting health equity in navigating the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This is a 27-slide module on population health management in the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). The module provides several examples of current initiatives that support population health management and social determinants of health as well as the use of these concept in supporting health equity in navigating the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The module also serves to specifically outline the rationale of PHM in areas of cost efficiency, quality improvement and patient care including value-based reimbursement and risk contracts, targeting care and resources to improve outcomes, and patient engagement and care management.   More Details...

What MACRA Means for Health Centers: Payment reform and health center impact (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This HITEQ brief outlines Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) MACRA, what it signals for payment reform, and when it impacts health centers. Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) establishes the Quality Payment Program through the Merit Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Although most health centers are not affected by MACRA, they need to understand its components since MACRA reflects national trends to shift payment from volume- to value-based. This resource identifies several strategies health centers can take to respond to these shifting dynamics, even if MACRA requirements do not directly affect them for now. More Details...

Introduction to Value-Based Payment for Health Centers: What is Value-Based Payment and why are Health Centers Considering Payment Reform? (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This HITEQ brief introduces value-based payment and role of health centers as payment models shift. The brief answers key questions about health centers’ engagement in value-based payment, including health-center specific Alternative Payment Methodology (APM), reasons to engage in payment reform, the shifts in primary care payment going forward, and the transition to value-based payment. Value-based payment is a systematic method of paying for care that rewards the cost-effective improvement of the health and well-being of a population.  Payment reform is changing current volume-based payment system to alternative payment models (APMs) that link payment to outcomes and align financial incentives with providing value. By engaging in value-based payment models, health centers can lay the foundation for financial sustainability, high quality care, and engaged staff. This resource outlines value based payment and payment reform specifically tailored to the health center environment. More Details...

Guide to Improving Care Processes and Outcomes in Health Centers: An approach to quality improvement (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: The quality improvement QI approach outlined in this Guide can be used to augment current QI approaches used in your health center, or can serve as a placeholder QI methodology when there isn’t already a robust QI process in place. It provides a framework and tools for documenting, analyzing, sharing and improving key workflows and information flows that drive performance on high-stakes care performance measures, and related improvement imperatives. This webpage provides strategies and tools that health centers and their partners can use to enhance care processes and outcomes targeted for improvement, such as hypertension and diabetes control, preventive care, and many others. More Details...

Enabling Services: Gateways to Better Care (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet was developed by AAPCHO and the National Association for Community Health Centers (NACHC). It provides an overview of the leading role health centers play in providing enabling services, or non-clinical services that improve access to care, and the important and positive impacts these services can have on health outcomes, costs, access and patient satisfaction. More Details...