The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced $685 million in awards to 39 national and regional health care networks and supporting organizations to help equip more than 140,000 clinicians with the tools and support needed to improve quality of care, increase patients’ access to information, and reduce costs. The Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI) is one of the largest federal investments designed to support doctors and other clinicians in all 50 states through collaborative and peer-based learning networks. The TCPI is funded through section 3021 of the Affordable Care Act, which authorizes the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to invest in quality improvement and cost reduction initiatives as part of national health care reform.
29 Practice Transformation Networks will provide technical assistance and peer- level support to assist clinicians in delivering care in a patient-centric and efficient manner. The networks will coach, mentor, and assist clinicians in developing core competencies specific to practice transformation. Examples include providing dedicated coaches to help practices better manage chronic diseases, supporting improved patient access to practitioners through e-mails and other information technology applications, and helping to advance improved access to remote and virtual care. The organizations awarded grants are:
- Arizona Health-e Connection
- Baptist Health System, Inc.
- Children’s Hospital of Orange County
- Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing,
- Community Care of North Carolina, Inc.
- Community Health Center Association of Connecticut, Inc.
- Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control
- Health Partners Delmarva, LLC
- Iowa Healthcare Collaborative
- Local Initiative Health Authority of Los Angeles County
- Maine Quality Counts
- Mayo Clinic
- National Council for Behavioral Health
- National Rural Accountable Care Consortium
- New Jersey Innovation Institute
- New Jersey Medical & Health Associates dba CarePoint Health
- New York eHealth Collaborative
- New York University School of Medicine
- Pacific Business Group on Health
- PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center
- Rhode Island Quality Institute
- The Trustees of Indiana University
- VHA/UHC Alliance Newco, Inc.
- University of Massachusetts Medical School
- University of Washington
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- VHQC
- VHS Valley Health Systems, LLC
- Washington State Department of Health
In addition, 10 Support and Alignment Networks are national and regional professional associations and public-private partnerships that are currently working in practice transformation efforts. These networks will use existing and emerging tools (e.g., continuing medical education, maintenance of certification, core competency development) to raise awareness about and increase access to practice transformation resources and best practices, especially among clinician practices serving small, rural and medically underserved communities. Examples include creating a collaborative for emergency clinicians to address appropriate utilization of tests and procedures, and forming collaboratives between psychiatry and primary care providers so patients can receive basic mental health care from their primary care providers. The Support and Alignment Networks are:
- American College of Emergency Physicians
- American College of Physicians, Inc.
- HCD International, Inc.
- Patient Centered Primary Care Foundation
- The American Board of Family Medicine, Inc.
- Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement
- American College of Radiology
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Medical Association
- National Nursing Centers Consortium
More details about each of the grants awarded can be found on this fact sheet.
Ignatius Bau 