Clinical Quality

A core focus of the Michigan Primary Care Association's work is to support quality primary health care services in Michigan. In this section you will find information and resources to stay informed on quality improvement issues that are reshaping the health care industry.
MPCA's Clinical Quality Program includes assisting Community Health Centers in developing and refining quality infrastructures through training and support in several areas, including:

Patient Safety
Patient Centered Medical Home Adoption
Quality Assurance and Improvement Plans
UDS Clinical Measures
Chronic Disease
Preventive/Wellness Healthcare
Improvement Models

Our Clinical Quality Programs’ activities are designed to promote the sharing of ‘best practices’ and improve communications between clinical professionals across the state.

Upcoming Events

2012 Michigan Community Health Center Clinical Conference
March 14, 2012, 9 am-4 pm (registration begins at 8:30 am)
Lexington Lansing Hotel
Lansing, MI
Registration deadline is February 29

Featured Story: MPCA Patient-Centered Medical Home and Meaningful Use Clinical Quality Assessment Final Report

MPCA's Clinical Quality Team recently conducted a survey of Michigan Community Health Centers with a focus on readiness to become designated as a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and adoption of Meaningful Use (MU) of Electronic Medical Records (EMR). Health Centers that were surveyed are evenly divided in readiness between those that are designated, those that are pursuing designation, and those that have not made plans. Seven of the Health Centers that were surveyed are currently designated by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan or recognized as a PCMH by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. (An eighth CHC is designated, but was not yet surveyed, so was not included in the data.) Nine of the Health Centers that were surveyed expect to achieve MU within one year and 15 Health Centers, more than two thirds, expect to achieve MU within two years. Many thanks to all those who participated in this project. Click here to read the full report.

Patient-Centered Medical Home

The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is an approach for providing comprehensive, coordinated primary care to adults, youth and children and facilitates partnerships between individual patients and their personal physicians and when appropriate, the patient's family.

In response to a recent E-Update article, entitled, Michigan Community Health Centers Earning Patient Centered Medical Home Designttions, The Quality and Clinical Service Team has received requests for information from sources on the designation process for PCMH. Click on the links below to read about the different accreditation bodies and the process for becoming a PCMH.

Meaningful Use

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs provide a financial incentive for the "meaningful use" of certified EHR technology to achieve health and efficiency goals. By putting into action and meaningfully using an EHR system, Health Centers will reap benefits beyond financial incentives- such as reduction in errors, availability of records and data, reminders and alerts, clinical decision support and e-prescribing/refill automation.

The Triple Aim

The current U.S. health care system, dominated by system complexity and escalating costs, is failing to address an increasing prevalence of chronic disease, millions of un- and underinsured, and a growing public dissatisfaction with health care delivery. Health care costs threaten our economy and place impossible burdens on our economy. Strategies to address the health care crisis require a fundamental shift from sick care to a population-based health system—a system that improves the health and well-being of whole populations. A sustainable health system must provide universal access to quality health care delivery while controlling escalating health care costs. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) defines the three goals in a population-based system by way of the Triple Aim, which recognizes that to achieve sustainable reform in the health system, we must simultaneously:

Improve the experience of health care delivery care for the individual
Improve the health of the population
Control per capita health care costs

The Triple Aim is widely recognized as the guiding strategy for improving health systems. It is a valuable framework which merits consideration and understanding for its implications within the Michigan Community Health Center (CHC) system. Read more