PCMH workforce conference offers lessons for CT

Yesterday’s conference on patient-centered medical homes and workforce brought speakers from other RI, MA and Pittsburg together with CT programs to share best practices and lessons learned. Take aways included baking training into all activities and for every member of the team. It is also critical to begin training well before NCQA recognition. And training is not over with recognition; CHC, Inc. retrains all team members every year. The speakers emphasized that the patient-centered vision is the responsibility of everyone – including clinician, administrators, IT staff and receptionists. Teams are not one-size fits all; they have to fit into their community. Sustainable funding in a multi-payer initiative was cited by several states as critical, from the beginning. It is critical to use data – process and population health – to target interventions. Kyle Crawford from the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative noted that we have to create a “better relationship with our data.” Other lessons included the importance of behavioral health integration and engaged, committed leadership both at the practice level and among policymakers.