Charter
Background: West Virginia was awarded a series of Medicaid transformation grants by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). A key design element of these grants was the belief that a vehicle was needed to bring key stakeholders together to leverage collaboration and resources while fostering alignment across the health care system. This was the impetus for forming the West Virginia Health Improvement Institute. A second design element was the premise that quality would be improved by rapid adoption of the medical home model by primary care providers in West Virginia. A series of four workgroups were launched in April 2008 with the goal of shaping the environment in the State for rapid adoption of the Medical Home model as outlined by the February 2007 Joint Principles consensus document on the Medical Home. (1)
Charter for the Health Improvement Institute: The charter of the Health Improvement Institute is to:
- Provide input to the State on strategies to accelerate the adoption of the medical home model by primary care providers in West Virginia
- To serve as a vehicle for aligning resources and efforts across stakeholders
- To lead the development of a consensus on core measures that can provide an assessment on progress toward the adoption of the medical home as well as its impact on quality and health status of the Medicaid population. The measures should be tracked by the State and should be aligned with other Statewide needs for measurement (e.g. payers, HRSA reporting; public accountability)
- Develop strategies for recognizing individual practices as patient-centered medical homes
- Develop strategies for the acceleration of adoption of electronic health information technology by primary care providers to streamline health care delivery; improve quality and ensure patient safety
- Develop strategies to train, educate and assist primary care practices to become medical homes
- Develop strategies to enable Medicaid beneficiaries to have ready access to resources to assist them with self-management and maintenance of healthy lifestyles
- To provide a vehicle for collaboration of key stakeholders across the state in efforts to improve the health of all West Virginians
The initial focus of the Health Improvement Institute will be on meeting the vision outlined in the CMS supported Transformation Grants. As the Health Improvement Institute proves to be a viable vehicle for long term collaboration, it is expected that its focus will expand to address broader health issues in the State.
(1) In February 2007 a Joint Principles document was issued as a consensus statement by the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association.
