Ambulatory Quality Initiatives

Compass Opioid Stewardship Program

In September 2020, Iowa Healthcare Collaborative (IHC) was awarded a contract in response to Section 6052 of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treat for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act). To support this work IHC has developed the nation-wide Compass Opioid Stewardship Program. Funded by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), this program will support providers through education and outreach to improve prescribing practices and increase the use of non-opioid pain management therapies. The program focuses on reducing the impact of the opioid epidemic by building relationships with those on the frontline of care and teaming with stakeholders to maintain an agile and responsive healthcare system.

PROGRAM GOALS

The Compass Opioid Stewardship Program provides support to eligible prescribers across the nation. Section 6052 of the SUPPORT Act authorizes this technical assistance. Using evidence-based techniques and data, this program works directly with eligible front-line providers. The goals of the program are to:

  • Educate and provide outreach to outlier prescribers of opioids about best practices for prescribing opioids
  • Educate and provide outreach to outlier prescribers of opioids about non-opioid pain management therapies
  • Reduce the amount of opioid prescriptions prescribed by eligible prescribers of opioids

The program aligns with the foundational principles of the CMS Strategy to Fight the Opioid Crisis.

To learn more about this program please visit our Opioid Stewardship Program page (Link).

Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative

On September 29, 2015, the IHC was one of 39 organizations selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to participate in the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPi) as a Practice Transformation Network (PTN).

Since 2015, the TCPi model has assisted primary and specialty care clinicians in improving the way they deliver care. IHC provided technical assistance to integrate quality and process improvement in daily healthcare workflows. This initiative was designed to help clinicians achieve large-scale transformation and succeed in a value-based care environment. Participating practices receive coaching, mentoring and assistance in developing core competencies specific to the TCPi Five Phases of practice transformation:

TCPi Aims:

  • Use Data to Drive Care
  • Achieve Progress on Aims
  • Achieve Benchmark Status
  • Thrive as a Business via Pay for Value Approaches

This approach enables clinicians to become actively engaged in transformation that creates, promotes and sustains learning and improvement throughout health care.

The Compass PTN supported more than 7,000 and expanded quality improvement capacity in both primary and specialty care practices. Through TCPi, these clinicians shared clinical best practices and improved patient outcomes while reducing overall cost.