Quality Community Health offers a full range of medical, dental and behavioral health services including preventative care, well child care, acute care and management of chronic illness. The quality of our care as well as patient satisfaction are important to how we deliver our services and our ability to foster a productive work environment for our health care professionals. The core elements of our quality care include top management’s commitment to continuous evaluation and improvement of quality, training programs for our clinical and nonclinical staff, collection and evaluation of practice and patient data and information, and the development and implementation of quality environment allowing providers to practice at the top of their license. Community Health’s quality program supports our medical, dental and behavioral health practices, which offer health care to all regardless of financial situation. We believe in the importance of patient involvement in medical decisions and follow well-defined protocol for administration of services that are fair, accurate and balanced and serve our community with a skilled workforce and innovative programs. Quality Improvement Awards Community Health has been recognized by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for the exceptional care provided through its network of affordable, accessible and high quality health care centers. The purpose of the Quality Improvement Awards is to: Recognize health centers that deliver affordable, accessible, quality and cost-effective primary health care services Increase access to quality health services, achieve health equity and enhance population health Further strengthen quality improvement activities and expand quality primary health care service delivery Improve the range of services, modernization, efficiency and overall value of primary health care delivered by health centers Quality of Care is measured by comparing state and federal data with data from Community Health. Here is where we have achieved excellence: Community Health exceeds the state and national percentages for: Perinatal Health: Early entry into prenatal care (first visit in first trimester) Lowest percentage of low and very low birth weight Preventative Health Screening & Services: Cervical cancer screening Percent adults screened for tobacco use and receiving cessation intervention Colorectal cancer screening Childhood immunization status Chronic Disease Management: Statin therapy for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease Ischemic vascular disease (IVD): use of aspirin or another antiplatelet Diabetes: lowest percentage of hemoglobin A1c poor control Percent of patients seen for follow-up within 90 days of first ever HIV diagnosis Community Health exceeds the state averages for: Preventative health screening & services: Weight assessment and counseling for nutrition and physical activity for children and adolescents Body mass index screening and follow-up plan Screening for depression and follow-up plan Chronic Disease Management: Use of appropriate medications for asthma As a result of these quality policies and achievements, Community Health was awarded a total Quality Grant Award of $168,210 in 2020. —Community Health’s quality excellence was specifically recognized in these areas— Access Enhancer Access Enhancer Awards recognize health centers that increased the total number of patients served and the number of patients receiving comprehensive services between 2018 and 2019. Community Health serves more than 75% of the residents in Rutland County. Advancing Health Information Technology for Quality Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality Awards recognize health centers that optimized HIT services for advancing telehealth, patient engagement, interoperability and collection of social determinants of health to increase access to care and advance quality of care between 2018 and 2019. The expansion of Community Health’s Telehealth system increased access to patients and strengthened care coordination for chronic care and behavioral health. We established a coordinated Telehealth system working with school districts. Quality Leader Health Center Quality Leaders achieve the best overall clinical performance among all health centers. Clinical Quality Improvers demonstrate at least 15% improvement for Clinical Quality Measure from 2018 to 2019. Community Health was ranked in the top 30% of the FQHCs in the country for overall clinical performance and received the Bronze Tier award (21-30%) in 2019. Health Disparities Reducer Health Disparities Reducer Awards recognize health centers that meet or exceed the Healthy People 2020 goals, or made at least a 10% improvement across different racial/ethnic groups between 2018 and 2019. Population health specialists have been added to our health care network to increase outreach, engage new patients, re-engage existing patients and address gaps in care. Patient Centered Medical Home Recognition (PCMH) Patient Centered Medical Home Recognition recognizes organizations that meet national standards for primary care that emphasize care coordination and ongoing quality improvement. Community Health provides services to address barriers to care in this rural, low income area, including transportation, education relating to health risk behaviors and facilitating insurance enrollment. With expanded capacity in our care manager teams and increased care coordination, patients have been supported in accessing care, managing disease conditions and navigating care. Quality Improvement Awards in Vermont In 2020, the federal government awarded over $117 million in health center quality improvement awards. In the state of Vermont, 11 health centers, received awards totaling $1,095,420 for quality improvements, leadership, access enhancements, reducing health disparities, advancing health information technology and achieving patient centered medical home recognition. Clinical Quality Improvers: 8 health centers received awards totaling $182,974 Health Center Quality Leaders: 3 health centers received awards totaling $139,171 National Quality Leaders: 1 health center received awards totaling $94,800 Access Enhancers: 5 health centers received awards totaling $63,250 Health Disparities Reducers: 4 health centers received awards totaling $43,125 Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality: 11 health centers received awards totaling $102,100 Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition: 11 health centers received awards totaling $470,000 Community Health Ongoing Quality Improvement Projects Clinical and operational responses to the pandemic including rapid increase in telemedicine capacity for both medical and behavioral health Establishment of safety protocols for continued in-person access to primary care and Express Care Installation of UVGU (ultraviolet germicidal irradiation) lights and electromagnetic filters in HVAC systems in all clinic sites.
