Elevating Patient Care and Practice Success Through Quality Measurement and Improvement
Whether you are a provider preparing for the incorporation of behavioral health services into DC’s Medicaid managed care program, or already have experience with managed care and value-based payment arrangements, understanding how to define, measure, and improve quality is essential for success. Providing top-notch integrated care that delivers better outcomes requires an ongoing commitment to quality improvement. Measuring quality can also enhance your sustainability by demonstrating the value of your services.
Integrated Care DC engages practices in using tools and strategies for systematic quality improvement, including defining clear objectives and employing quality metrics to track progress. By June 2023, 72% of the 18 practice sites that had collaborated with an Integrated Care DC coach for at least six months enhanced their use of quality metrics for program improvement compared to their baseline assessment a year earlier.
Medicaid Business Transformation DC Report Shares Insights and Recommendations on Providers’ Technical Assistance Needs
Healthcare providers in the District vary significantly in their understanding of and readiness for value-based payment (VBP) models. They also have specific technical assistance needs for financial, operational, and legal capacity building. These insights are among the findings of the recently released report, Medicaid Business Transformation DC: Recommendations for Technical Assistance. With a grant from the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF), Health Management Associates (HMA) partnered with the DC Behavioral Health Association, Medical Society of the District of Columbia, DC Primary Care Association, and DHCF to assess DC Medicaid providers’ technical assistance needs, make policy recommendations, and deliver a pilot technical assistance learning collaborative focused on financial, operational, and legal capacity building to prepare organizations to deliver high-quality value-based care.
Mayor’s Healthcare Workforce Task Force Recommendations
Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health released the Report and Recommendations of the Mayor’s Healthcare Workforce Task Force. Mayor Bowser established the task force in May 2022 to provide detailed recommendations on how the District could rebuild, strengthen, and expand its healthcare workforce to address key challenges, including worker shortages and burnout. The task force’s six committees, comprised of public and private sector leaders from across the District with specialties in education, employment, healthcare, and government, made 26 recommendations aimed at creating equity and ensuring the long-term strength of the District’s healthcare workforce.
DC Takes New Actions to Address Opioid Crisis
The District advanced several new tools and strategies in recent months to address the city’s opioid epidemic, starting with the inaugural meeting of the District’s Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission on October 25. The commission is charged with formulating recommendations for the Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia and for ensuring that the settlement funds the District will receive and expend have the effect of preventing, treating, and reducing opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and reducing fatalities.
Upcoming Events
- Wednesday, December 6 | 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Supporting Practice Leaders Navigating Unfamiliar Waters – Leadership Through Change Part 1
If you missed any of our live webinars, you can still catch up by watching recordings on-demand in the Learning Library.
Announcements
Stakeholder Meetings
DHCF and DBH host regular stakeholder meetings to share information, solicit feedback, and offer training opportunities:
- Public Forum on Integrated Care where the public is welcome.
- Medicaid Renewal Information for DC Medicaid beneficiaries and stakeholders.
- Provider Meetings aimed at specific DBH providers.
- DC Health Information Exchange Policy Board, which meets quarterly.
Is Your Practice Ready?
Integrating whole-person care has improved patient outcomes and increased beneficiary and provider satisfaction. Integrated Care DC will help ensure you have the infrastructure, knowledge, and tools to deliver high-value patient care.
Join Integrated Care DC now:
- Request practice coaching for tailored, site-specific support to achieve your integrated care goals.
- Visit our Learning Library to access on-demand videos, podcasts, tools, success stories, and more.
- Subscribe to our newsletter for events, resources, and program updates.
- Register for live webinars to learn and share best practices and earn continuing education credits.
Dive into a Topic
Behavioral Health | Econsult/Telehealth | Screening and/or Assessment | HIE | Care Team Optimization | MAT | COVID-19 | Patient Engagement | Stigma Abatement | Substance/OUD
We now publish on the first Tuesday of the month. Check out our previous newsletters here. If you have content or comments for our monthly newsletter, we want to hear from you. Please send us an email at: [email protected]