Clinical Strategy Meeting focuses on improving health equity while leveraging demographic data

CTC-RI’s April Clinical Strategy Committee meeting focused on improving health equity through demographic data collection. Amelia Bedri, MHSA, NCQA's Senior Content Engineer, Product Management, spoke about the NCQA health equity work with emphasis on NCQA’s health equity accreditation. Natasha Viveiros, MS, Director, Site Operations & Special Projects, and Andrew Saal, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, both of Providence Community Health Centers (PCHC), shared PCHC's efforts to further improve their data collection abilities. These strategies included furthering staff training, enhanced communication among staff and patients, and leveraging the data to better understand their patient population. Jay Buechner, Neighborhood Health Plan of RI (NHPRI) Director of Quality Improvement, spoke to efforts by NHPRI and how they are using race and ethnicity data to address member groups with gaps in care as identified by low Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures. To view the recording, find more resources and claim CME credit, visit our CME Coursework webpage.

Rhode to Equity teams gather to celebrate accomplishments at conference

This month, in partnership with RIDOH and EOHHS, CTC-RI hosted its second Rhode to Equity Conference which brought together more than 80 attendees, including the six Rhode to Equity teams, state partners, managed care organization staff, community health workers and other stakeholders. This conference celebrated two years of work across multi-sector stakeholder teams to advance equity in their communities. Highlights of the day included subject matter expert sessions with local leaders who are on working with people of lived experiences of inequities and leveraging data and evaluation for advocacy. The keynote was provided by Estrus Tucker, DEI Consultants President and CEO who spoke about emotional intelligence as a tool to further equity work. Estrus engaged attendees and spoke about techniques that individuals can use in their work including intentionally listening, suspending judgements, and having cultural humility. Rhode to Equity teams then provided short presentations on their accomplishments throughout the initiative and goals for future work.

In the afternoon, attendees heard from a panel of Managed Care Organization (MCO) representatives from Neighborhood Health Plan, Tufts Health Plan/Point32Health, and UnitedHealthcare. Rhode to Equity teams then had focused conversations with each other and MCO representatives about continued sustainability and advancing their current equity work. Soma Saha, MD, MPH, Well Being & Equity in the World CEO & President, led attendees in a closing reflection before kicking off a CHW-led self-care session. This session was developed and led by Swanette Salazar, the lead CHW on this project.

Estrus Tucker, DEI Consultants President & CEO, speaks to attendees at the Rhode to Equity Conference.

Cynthia Roberts, PhD, (right), RICDAV and Sydney Ormerod (left), Woman's Resource Center, lead a presentation about data and evaluation.

Ambar Delgado, West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation CHW, leads participants through a self-care session.

Join us for Breakfast of Champions on June 9

CTC-RI will host its quarterly Breakfast of Champions Meeting on June 9 at 7:30am. Stephen Moberg, Executive VP & COO, Team Care Medicine, and Dr. Arnold Goldberg, Thundermist will present their progress with developing care teams using medical assistants (MA) as scribes.

Team Care Medicine helps many doctors around the country struggling with reducing physician burnout and improving well-being. The Team Care Medicine model leverages a real-world solution developed by 30-year primary care physician Dr. Peter Anderson, which makes doctors 20-40% more productive while reducing their after-hours work. This is accomplished by the addition of one clinical assistant (a team care assistant/MA) to their team, allowing the provider to get off the EHR.

Dr. Arnold Goldberg, Associate Program Director at the Warwick site, joined THC in August 2016 as a family medicine physician. With more than 30 years in medicine, he was Lehigh Valley Family Health Center (LVHC) Professor of Family Medicine and Medical Director. Prior time spent at LVHC, Dr. Goldberg was Pawtucket Memorial Hospital Medical Director and Clinical Team Leader of the Family Care Center. Dr. Goldberg’s specialty areas include diabetes care, group medical visits, behavioral medicine, geriatrics, Suboxone care and Balint Groups. In addition, Dr. Goldberg is the Brown Family Medicine Residency Program Associate Program Director at Kent Hospital/Warwick based out of Thundermist Health Center.

CTC-RI announces first keynote speaker for October 5, 2023 conference!

CTC-RI is excited to announce our first keynote speaker will be Susan J. Kressly, MD, board-certified Pediatrician and Clinical Informaticist. Dr. Kressly has over 30 years of clinical experience in pediatric practice, almost two decades of business experience as the founding partner of innovative Kressly Pediatrics, and over 15 years in Pediatric Health IT championing the pediatric voice at the Health IT table. Dr. Kressly has served multiple volunteer leadership roles at the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is currently Chair of the Payer Advocacy Advisory Committee, and is involved in the Council on Clinical IT, the Section on Telehealth Care, the Section on Administration & Practice Management, the Council on Clinical Quality Improvement, the Child Health Informatics Project Advisory Committee and others. She is the former President of the PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Kressly received her medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and served her residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Dr. Kressly began practicing in the Doylestown area in 1990 and has been an involved member of the medical community since then. Her independent pediatric practice has been a recognized medical home since 2011.

In addition, she adds her pediatric expertise and advocacy voice to national health IT conversations including HIMSS, ONC workgroups, EHRA and others. Dr. Kressly’s “North Star” is ensuring that every child has the best chance at a bright future, and supporting the pediatric clinicians who are essential to success.

Upcoming CTC-RI Committee Meetings and Workgroups

• June 08, 07:30-09:00AM – Prior Authorization Kickoff Meeting
• June 14, 08:00-09:00AM – Task Force for Primary Care Provider Workforce Development
• June 16, 07:30-09:00AM – Clinical Strategy Committee

Upcoming Learning Collaboratives and Professional Development

• May 24, 07:30-08:30AM – Medicaid Recovery Program BH ECHO Learning Session - Medication Management in Pediatrics
• May 25, 07:30-08:30AM – ECHO® Learning Series - Approaches to Dementia Care: Building Blocks for Becoming Age-Friendly
• May 31, 07:30-09:00AM – Care Coordination ECHO® Session #1
• June 01, 07:30-08:00AM – Virtual Coffee Breaks with Dr Pat Flanagan & Dr Beth Lange
• June 08, 07:30-08:30AM – ECHO® Learning Series - Approaches to Dementia Care: Building Blocks for Becoming Age-Friendly
• June 09, 07:30-09:00AM – Breakfast of Champions
• June 15, 07:30-08:30AM – Pediatric Weight Management ECHO® Session
• June 16, 12:00-01:00PM – Integrated Behavioral Health Meet and Eat
• June 20, 08:00-09:00AM – Best Practices in Team-Based Care (formerly NCM/CC Best Practice Sharing)
• June 21, 08:00-09:30AM – Care + Community + Equity Best Practice Sharing
• June 22, 07:30-08:30AM – Medicaid Recovery Program BH ECHO Learning Session - Suicide Risk, Prevention & Tools
• June 29, 07:30-09:00AM – Care Coordination ECHO® Session #2