Achieving IHI's Triple Aim by Utilizing Core Health Program With Community Health Workers in Rural Communities.

Utilizing a nurse/community health worker team model, a Midwest institution's community health care division developed a 12-month managed care program for underserved individuals diagnosed with heart failure and/or diabetes. A study of 277 patients was conducted to determine whether this model could be utilized in rural settings. The program was evaluated using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Triple Aim criteria; HEDIS measures and other health indicators quantified each patient's performance.

Restructuring primary care for performance improvement.

Primary care practices can no longer consider ongoing quality assessment and management processes to be optional. There are ever-increasing demands from any number of interested parties for objectively measured proof of outcomes and quality of care. Primary Care Partners (PCP), a 16-site ambulatory affiliate of the Spectrum Health system in Grand Rapids, Michigan, began such a continuous quality improvement (CQI) effort in 2005.