CTC-RI task force takes action on primary care provider shortage

The primary care provider shortage has been receiving national and local attention, and our CTC-RI Primary Care Workforce Task Force, launched in April, has taken steps to address the crisis head on. Task Force members include the leaders of the physician, nurse practitioner and physician assistant training programs from RI colleges, universities and health systems. The Task Force has developed a Strategic Roadmap that lays out six goals to address the major issues contributing to the primary care provider shortage:



1. Reform payments and incentives to primary care providers to create regional parity.
2. Establish baseline data and targets for primary care workforce using existing and to-be-developed data sources for ongoing monitoring.
3. Increase the recruitment of medical students, residents/fellows, as well as nurse practitioners (NP) and physician assistants (PA) trainees entering primary care. Reduce tuition and student debt for providers entering primary care in RI.
4. Expand primary care provider workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
5. Increase the funding for training primary care providers and the number of high-quality primary care training sites. 
6. Enhance onsite clinical training in advanced patient-centered medical home (PCMH) principles such as team-based care, integrated behavioral health, practice transformation, and payment reform.

The plan includes recommended action steps and objectives that stakeholders in Rhode Island should take to improve the provider workforce and increase access to primary care. Read more.

CTC-RI offers CME credits for select meetings, including asynchronous viewing of meeting recordings. Learn more and access evaluation forms here.

• Restrictive Eating Disorders ECHO® Learning Series | FBT: Food is Medicine | December 2023 (presentation)

CMS Deadline Approaching: Request for Applications for the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model now available

CMS is now accepting applications for the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model, which aims to support people living with dementia and their caregivers. The Request for Applications is now open. The application deadline is January 30, 2024. The model will launch on July 1, 2024, and run for eight years. The GUIDE Model will test whether providing an alternative payment methodology for participating dementia care programs to deliver a package of care management and coordination, caregiver education and support, and GUIDE Respite Services to Medicare beneficiaries with dementia and their caregivers reduces expenditures while preserving or enhancing quality of care.

OHIC Data Story: High and Increasing Prices Drive Prescription Drug Spending

Research on national prescription drug spending data shows that, over time, the average launch prices of prescription drugs have increased by 20% annually. Some Rhode Islanders cannot afford their life-saving prescription medications. OHIC can leverage the state’s All-Payer Claims Database to better understand patterns in health care spending and spending growth. These data can inform provider organizations, payers, purchasers, policymakers, and state residents interested in improving the affordability of health care in Rhode Island. Read more.

Free webinar: Optimizing Medicaid Reimbursement Community Health Worker Delivered EBPs

Are you seeking ways to sustain your Community Health Worker (CHW) Program while improving population health? Many organizations are having success with establishing partnerships and delivering evidence-based programs (EBPs) within their state. On February 21, the National Council On Aging will be hosting a free webinar to explore how to optimize Medicaid reimbursement for EBPs delivered by CHWs. Register.

Providence Journal: The doctor shortage is crippling health care. Could pharmacists help?

By Amy Russo | January 12, 2024

Lifespan and the University of Rhode Island are partners in a pilot program that would boost access to health care through broadening the role of pharmacists. Read more.

Providence Journal (opinion): RI needs to heal its ailing primary care system

By Howard Schulman, MD, guest columnist | December 31, 2023

Just like commerce needs infrastructure (roads and bridges and railroads and ports), delivering primary health care needs infrastructure, and Rhode Island has ignored this for way too long. First and foremost, the state needs a non-interim director of the Department of Health, and for that director to focus on how health care is delivered. The General Assembly needs to fix the problem of inadequate pay for the director, which is now less than the starting salary of almost every physician. Read more.

Providence Journal: RI lawmakers come back next week for a new session. Here's what will spark debate.

By Katherine Gregg and Patrick Anderson | December 29, 2023

With Rhode Island affected by a national doctor shortage – specifically, a shortage of primary-care doctors and clinicians – the state's top health regulator and the Rhode Island Medical Society want insurers and Medicaid to raise their reimbursement rates to make Rhode Island more competitive with Massachusetts and Connecticut. Read more.

PBN: 12-month program helps R.I. pediatricians navigate rising rates of child obesity

By Katie Castellani | December 17, 2023

PROVIDENCE – As Rhode Island continues to grapple with a primary care workforce shortage, the state’s Care Transformation Collaborative of RI is working to advance programs that respond to these needs.

One topic pediatricians across Rhode Island have asked for help with is navigating the topic of weight management as children throughout the state are overweight and facing obesity since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a RI KIDS COUNT report. This fall, CTC-RI, completed its first 12-month pediatric weight management program funded by Point32Health, which is the parent company of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Read more.