Project Grant U8645851

HEALTH CENTER CONTROLLED NETWORK - THE ALASKA QUALITY IMPROVEMENT NETWORK (AQUIN), ALASKA'S HEALTH CENTER CONTROLLED NETWORK (HCCN) IS COMPRISED OF 20 PARTICIPATING HEALTH CENTERS (PHC) FROM ACROSS THE STATE OF ALASKA. AS A PROGRAM OF THE ALASKA PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION (APCA), AQUIN IS HOUSED IN THE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (TTA) DEPARTMENT. AQUIN IS ADVISED BY THE HCCN STEERING COMMITTEE (A COMMITTEE OF THE APCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS) AND IS COMPRISED OF ONE VOTING REPRESENTATIVE FROM EACH PARTICIPATING HEALTH CENTER. PROJECT STAFFING INCLUDES A PROJECT DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER OPTIMIZATION MANAGER, CLINICAL SERVICES COORDINATOR, CLINICAL APPLICATIONS COORDINATOR, INTEGRATION COORDINATOR, AND A DATA ANALYST- ALL STAFF FROM THE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE DEPARTMENT. THE OVERALL PURPOSE OF AQUIN IS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FOR EQUITABLE AND BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES, INCREASED PATIENT ACCESS AND ENGAGEMENT, INCREASED PROVIDER SATISFACTION AND SUPPORT, AND LOWER COSTS. EXPEDITED BY THE PANDEMIC, THE HEALTHCARE MARKET DEMANDS EQUITY AND OPTIMIZATION OF PATIENT CARE USING A HYBRID OF VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON CARE DELIVERY. ALASKA HEALTH CARE PROGRAM GRANTEES RECOGNIZE THE NEED TO ACHIEVE INTEROPERABILITY WITH BOTH MEDICAL AND SOCIAL SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS TO GATHER PREDICTIVE HEALTH DATA, ENHANCING THE CARE TEAM'S ABILITY TO ACHIEVE EQUITABLE AND BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES. THE ALASKA HEALTH CARE PROGRAM GRANTEES ARE WELL POSITIONED TO FOCUS ON ENHANCEMENTS TO INFRASTRUCTURE BUILT OUT IN CURRENT AND PREVIOUS HCCN FUNDING PERIODS. THE MAJORITY OF AQUIN PHCS ARE UTILIZING TWO DATA WAREHOUSE AND ANALYTICS PLATFORMS THAT RECEIVE ROUTINE, PERIODIC DATA FEEDS FROM EACH PARTICIPATING HEALTH CENTER'S ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD (EHR). ONE PLATFORM, AZARA HEALTHCARE'S DRVS, IS USED BY 15 OF THE PHCS; THREE PHCS THAT EMPLOY THE ALASKA TRIBAL HEALTH SYSTEM'S CERNER EHR WILL USE THE HEALTH CATALYST PLATFORM. THE DATA WAREHOUSES HAVE ENHANCED PHCS AND APCA'S ABILITIES TO TRANSFORM DATA I NTO ACTIONABLE ANALYTICS. THE ALASKA HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS HAVE CHOSEN TO INCREASE THE FUNCTIONALITIES OF THE POPULATION HEALTH PLATFORM BY REFINING THE ALGORITHM OF RISK STRATIFICATION, ADDING AN AUTOMATIC PATIENT OUTREACH SYSTEM, AND INTEGRATING A SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH SCREENING TOOL. THE REMAINING MINORITY OF PHCS WILL WORK WITH APCA'S DATA ANALYST AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS COORDINATOR TO EXTRACT THE REQUIRED DATA DIRECTLY THROUGH THE PHC'S EHR OR OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. APCA PROPOSES TO OPERATE AND MANAGE THE AQUIN PROGRAM BY EMPLOYING ON-SITE AND REMOTE-DELIVERED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. STAFF OF THE TTA DEPARTMENT ARE EXPERIENCED, COMPETENT HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, HIGHLY QUALIFIED IN QUALITY IMPROVEMENT, THE MODEL FOR IMPROVEMENT, POPULATION HEALTH AND DATA ANALYTICS. THE EXPERIENCE WILL BE AUGMENTED BY A PARTNERSHIP WITH SUCCESSFUL HCCNS IN OTHER STATES THROUGH A PEER NETWORK OF COMMON PLATFORM USERS. THROUGH FORMAL AND INFORMAL PARTNERSHIPS, TTA STAFF WILL IMPLEMENT AND ADAPT SUCCESSFUL BEST PRACTICES FROM HCCN, DATA ANALYTICS, AND CLINICAL CARE COORDINATION EXPERTS.