At HealthTeamWorks, we are not just subject matter experts in the day-to-day operations and delivery of care – we understand and have our finger on the pulse of healthcare industry trends, and the trends of today and tomorrow are heavily grounded in the shift to value-based care (VBC). We understand this through our vast scope and scale of client engagement, executive membership with the Primary Care Collaborative, involvement in advisory councils, workgroups and stakeholder discussions, and long-standing partnerships with national leaders in the field. And we know that providers who accept value-based payments are better able to weather fluctuations in utilization than those who rely on traditional fee-for-service (FFS) models. Not surprisingly, then, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the transition away from FFS and towards VBC.
However, we also know that careful thought must be given to such a transition. What works for one system or practice in their adoption of VBC may not work for another, and a shift in payment models requires a fundamental shift in how care is delivered. Without knowing where you are, where you want to be, and the changes you need to make to get there, the patient, provider, and business as a whole will suffer. Add to this the reality that the demands placed on providers are ever changing, and to succeed in the industry means to constantly adapt and improve.
So, beyond having our finger on the pulse of high-level trends, our team provides on-the-ground, tailored support for health systems, organizations, and practices to help them thrive in an increasingly dynamic healthcare environment.
But what exactly does this look like in practice? And how do we even begin to approach such lofty goals as ‘system redesign’ and ‘healthcare transformation’? Well, we do so by focusing on three broad areas as they relate to healthcare: Performance Improvement, Organizational Development, and Training.
Performance Improvement
Successful adaptation to any change in the healthcare environment often requires novel workflows and practices, new ways of delivering services, and innovative tools and skills. For HealthTeamWorks this means helping identify key performance priorities and objectives, then leveraging quality and process improvement principles in the implementation of known drivers of desired outputs.
Through our decades of experience and expertise, we help medical practices, physician organizations, and healthcare systems improve their performance in delivering VBC services and their capacity to engage in and sustain continuous quality improvement.
But what does this translate to in the day-to-day work of HealthTeamWorks? The following are some examples that illustrate how HealthTeamWorks has supported systems, organizations, and practices through performance improvement:
- Developing improvement plans based on practice assessments that include cycle time studies, supply and demand calculations, and observation site visits.
- Assisting practices in using metrics and data dashboards to monitor and improve performance. We help practices identify measures that are meaningful to them, are tied to identified goals at the team-level, aligned across payer populations and are transparent, readily available, and as current as possible to evaluate and drive improvement efforts and realize cost savings.
- Supporting the integration of behavioral health into primary care, including developing best practice playbooks and providing in-depth transformation support to practices.
- Assessing workflows and creating tailored plans for implementing telehealth.
- Guiding practices through the development of sustainable processes for validated reporting of Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) and other measures in accordance with data reporting timelines and requirements.
- Delivering regional support for nearly a decade to practices involved in federal Comprehensive Primary Care initiatives. We provided quality improvement coaching and established and manage National Learning Networks to diffuse new knowledge, actionable data, and feedback on clinical workflows to help practices succeed in offering advanced primary care.
- Providing direct coaching and technical assistance to primary and specialty clinicians and practices to implement the key components of value-based models and practices.
- Understanding drivers of risk and building a population health infrastructure
Organizational Development
As mentioned, the ability to transform and grow in the face of new industry trends is dependent on knowing where you’re at, where you want to be, and the changes you need to make to get there.
We firmly believe that intentionality around assessing business and workforce readiness and engagement in organizational development are critical to the successful implementation of any new payment or care delivery model.
In our day-to-day work, we have supported organizational development by:
- Offering our Advanced Alternative Payment Model Risk Readiness Assessment. Using data, key artifacts, and interviews, we analyze an organization for success in risk-based contracts and provide individualized guidance on elements such as where to strengthen and develop leadership and infrastructure, where to invest financially, and how to align measures across value-based contracts.
- Facilitating strategic discussions and over-arching strategic planning and alignment for health systems, nonprofit organizations, and medical associations. We help develop a plan and strategy, define tactics, allocate budgets, and ensure continuous monitoring.
- Conducting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) assessments that inform strategy planning.
- Completing assessments to assist in framing out a strategy for a single department or initiative, then piecing that strategy into the larger strategic position of an enterprise.
- Assessing workforce readiness to succeed as well as the alignment between practice culture and future goals for delivering and continuously improving value-based care.
- Supporting leadership development and retreats for leaders within an organization. For example, we build physician leadership engagement and capabilities through direct coaching, collaborative- or program-specific forums, and other synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities.
- Identifying and developing clinical and administrative champions and coaches to support the project and act as internal consultants to assist, educate, and support colleagues.
Training
Between organizational development and performance improvement lies the workforce’s capacity to understand and execute on new models of care delivery and payment. It may seem like an obvious step in pursuing industry trends but optimizing workforce performance and engagement requires training on best practices and effective strategies.
Our team at HealthTeamWorks provides training programs and services that transfer knowledge, build capabilities and skills, and enhance productivity.
In practice, HealthTeamWorks has supported systems, organizations, and practices through training by:
- Developing, delivering, and facilitating peer-to-peer learning.
- Training internal practice facilitators to build the capacity for and sustainability of quality improvement work in their own practices.
- Offering interactive online learning communities and trainings via our HealthTeamWorks Solutions Center with subsequent learner feedback and virtual coaching sessions to support the application of learning and to facilitate collaboration.
- Providing on-site training specific to the implementation of best practices and new models of care. We have trained on such things as behavioral health integration, medication-assisted treatment, shared decision-making, population health management, health coaching, Patient and Family Advisory Councils, and care management.
- Establishing Collaborative Practice Groups for specific topics within a given transformation program or for priorities defined by a delivery network. These groups assist practices with creating a culture of learning and encourage rapid-cycle improvement iterations to test and implement change tactics.
- Redesigning curricula for training programs, contributing to and creating change packages, implementation guides, and driver diagram design across multiple projects and initiatives.
Don’t Go It Alone
Adapting and succeeding amid changes in care delivery and payment models is rife with obstacles, innovations, and opportunities. It requires genuine engagement and commitment of time, training, and resources that can seem unworkable. But you don’t have to go it alone.
Our approach to supporting organizations through that journey matches and paces their priorities to optimize both clinical outcomes and financial performance. We work with and support almost anyone, anywhere, who touches the healthcare industry. This includes:
- Federal, state, and local government entities
- Large nation-wide health systems
- Integrated delivery networks
- Small, independent primary care practices
- Community Health Centers
- Specialty care clinicians and practices
- Behavioral health centers
- Commercial and public payers
- Nonprofit organizations, foundations, and medical associations
- Employers
- Academic institutions
We bring wide-ranging expertise from facilitation and project management, to strategic, clinical, and business acumen. But, beyond subject expertise, one of the most valuable components of any change or improvement initiative is understanding the bigger picture trends, knowing what others are doing, and understanding how it can work systemically and at the point of care. The power of connection and collaboration among peers, guided by knowledgeable and skilled facilitators, data-informed and rich with practical examples and readily applicable next steps, foster meaningful progress and realization of success in VBC.
If you are considering or are in the process of pursuing care delivery or payment improvements and would like to find out how HealthTeamWorks can support you, email us at [email protected].
Also see some additional examples of HealthTeamWorks in practice:
- Practice Transformation Journey with Sunrise Health Care PC
- Critical Care Pulmonary and Sleep Associates sees bottom-line results in COPD lung health initiative
- Leading Change in Pediatrics: Successes and Key Lessons in the Better Care, Better Costs, Better Colorado (BC3) Program
- Practice Facilitation for PCMH Implementation in Residency Practices
- The Importance of a Practice Facilitator in Practice Transformation: A Conversation with Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center
Written by Katie Ebinger, MPH, MSW – Facilitator, Advancement & Healthcare Transformation, HealthTeamWorks
