Regional Work

Across the region, new innovations are changing the way patients experience the health care system and interact with their providers. In an age of increasing uncertainty in the medical field, one thing remains clear: innovation is needed to transform the current system into one that is more manageable, efficient, and effective. This section highlights examples of innovations in the region.

Integrating IHI's Triple Aim Framework

The Institute for Health Improvement (IHI) is involved in an ongoing collaborative with health workgroups across the country to highlight the importance of optimizing patient experience, population health, and cost—the “Triple Aim”. In 2010, RPCC officially became part of the IHI Triple Aim Initiative and formed its own team with representatives from each of the region's four major jurisdictions. The Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County (PCC) was one of the first Triple Aim teams and continues to evaluate its programs’ ability to provide better health care by optimizing the Triple Aim components. For more information, Click HERE.

    Promoting Health Literacy through Simplified Prescription Drug Labels

    In Northern Virginia, the NOVA Scripts pharmacy (that provides medications to clinics that serve the uninsured) is involved in a project to make prescription drug labels more patient-friendly. By organizing all relevant information onto a “Universal Medicine Schedule”, the labels are intended to make it easier to take the right medicine at the right time for the right reasons. For more information, Click HERE.

Reducing Emergency Room Utilization

In its first phase of Triple Aim work, PCC developed the conceptual framework for an Emergency Department (ED) Utilization Program modeled on the three Triple Aim principles. The program seeks to reduce the number of avoidable Emergency Room (ER) visits by linking patients to primary care homes (through navigators) and surveying patients who use the ER for non-emergent services. The responses to these patient interviews are expected to help PCC sort through the underlying reasons people (those with and without insurance) rely on the ER for care they can get from primary care facilities and clinics. PCC is now evaluating more of its programs (like the Care for Kids program, for example) through the lens of patient experiences with care, population health, and per capita costs. For more information, Click HERE.

Piloting Group Medical Visits

Picking up on the growing challenge to increase efficiency and quality of care, the Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic in Herndon, Virginia, has begun offering group medical visits.  Diabetic and hypertensive patients were recruited to participate in a group medical visit pilot, and health outcomes were closely monitored to assess the efficacy of this method. The pilot was an overwhelming success, with patients recording a statistically significant increase in physical activity and the accomplishment of one personal goal. For more information, Click HERE.

Strengthening Communication Across the Healthcare System

Both DC Primary Care Association (DCPCA) and PCC are actively engaged in expanding the meaningful use of health information technology. DCPCA is partnering with the DC government and Microsoft on the DC Regional Health Information Organization (DC RHIO), a health information exchange enabling the sharing of data among local hospitals and community based health centers. The RHIO is expected to expand connectivity to other providers. DCPCA also serves as the District's Regional Extension Center, which will support more than 1,000 health care providers with the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records. For more information, Click HERE.

PCC has put electronic medical/health records in place at twelve clinics in Montgomery County and used those systems to exchange relevant health information with other providers through the AHRQ-funded Metro DC Health Information Exchange (MeDHIX). Picture ID cards were added to the clinics' electronic health records and MeDHIX for safety net clinic patients to facilitate care and identify patients to hospital ER staff and consulting specialists. Both the picture ID cards and the MeDHIX “eChart” clinical summary available to ER staff are integral components of the “ED-PC Connect” project that focuses on identifying medical home clinics for ER patients to improve outcomes and reduce costs. For more information on PCC's health information technology activities, Click HERE.

 

More information on the Triple Aim Initiative, medication access, Emergency Department Utilization Program, and group medical visits pilot are available under their corresponding subtabs to the right of this page.