 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Theresa Glenn, MPH1, Esta-Lee Stone, MS, OTR/L2, Nancy Schiff, MPH2, Steven Carreras, PhD, LICSW1, Annette Hanson, MD2, and Michael E. Huppert, MPH1. (1) Office of Community Programs, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Chang Building, 222 Maple Ave., Shrewsbury, MA 01545, 508 856-4849, Theresa.Glenn@umassmed.edu, (2) Office of Clinical Affairs, Massachusetts Division of Medical Assistance, 600 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
To improve delivery of health care among Massachusetts' Medicaid population, the MassHealth Access Program (MAP), University of Massachusetts Medical School has worked in partnership with the Office of Clinical Affairs, Massachusetts Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) to develop an innovative quality improvement approach, the DMA/MAP Clinical Education Project Template. The goal of the template is to increase providers’ knowledge and use of recommended clinical guidelines in a manner that is sensitive and respectful of individuals served. Developed in 1998, the template was designed to guide the planning, implementation and evaluation of DMA’s efforts to improve clinical outcomes in primary care settings. The approach incorporates both the fundamental elements of continuous improvement such as: team building, data collection and feedback as well as performance measures to promote best practices such as: clinical guidelines and benchmarks for the delivery of health care. The template includes provider education about how social determinants of health must be considered when developing culturally sensitive and appropriate quality improvement projects. An overview of the ten step template will be presented. To demonstrate the efficacy of the template, the presentation will highlight the evaluation of three pilot projects based on the comprehensive quality improvement approach. These projects include: 1) Judicious Use of Antibiotics designed to reduce the use of antibiotics among children ages six months to six years diagnosed with upper respiratory infections; 2) Diabetes Guideline Initiative developed to improve the care and management of type 2 diabetes; and, 3) The Chlamydia Education Project, established to increase chlamydia screening among adolescents ages 15-17. Using examples and case studies from each project, participants will learn how the use of the template assisted Medicaid providers to develop quality improvement projects that increased the use of clinical guidelines and how these quality improvement efforts improved patients’ health outcomes. The presentation will show how the template can be used in a variety of settings. The most salient elements of the template will be discussed including the use of 1) effective provider training; 2) resource materials such as provider “toolkits” to support quality improvement efforts, and, 3) opportunities for provider feedback such as chart reviews and patient focus groups to identify patient needs and effective ways to address them. The presentation will highlight both the benefits and challenges of using the Clinical Education Template as well as ways to expand the use of the template to reach a greater number of Medicaid providers.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Practice Guidelines, Quality Improvement
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.