CTC Partners with American College of Physicians to Improve Primary Care and Specialist Referral System
The High-Value Care Coordination (HVCC) project is designed to help primary and specialty care practices implement changes around the referral system. Developed by the American College of Physicians (ACP) in collaboration with specialty and primary care practices and patient advocates, the HVCC training helps practices implement changes benefitting the specialist practice, referring clinicians, and patients. 24 RI practices are participating in the 6-month HVCC learning collaborative convened by CTC, with in-person and web-based training conducted by ACP faculty.
To date, participants have completed 2 of the 4 webinars and participated in coaching calls to discuss progress and next steps. Practices have looked at their own processes for referrals, identifying who in their practices have responsibility for the referral process areas where the process bogs down. Primary care practices have reviewed their data on referral tracking and specialty practices have looked at their data on availability, focusing on the 3rd next available appointment. Over the next several months, practices will begin to focus on improving the referral systems, form working groups to address problems specific to them, and implement changes based on their experiences and the many resources available to participants in the program.