Appalachian State University
For the second year in a row, health care management students at Appalachian State University (ASU) in Boone, NC are helping local providers gain recognition as patient-centered medical homes (PCMH). Fourteen undergraduate juniors and seniors each year have been assisting local rural providers gain NCQA (the National Committee for Quality Assurance) recognition as a PCMH. PCMH recognition is awarded to practices that meet a number of standards including improving patient access, population management of patient groups, providing self-care support, quality improvement, working in teams, and coordinating and tracking care over time.
The program is part of the multi-payer demonstration project sponsored by The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Other partners in the project include Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC), Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and the State Health Plan and its partners, Medicare and Medicaid. Students can earn up to 6 hours of elective credit per year for their involvement, with some students engaged over the summer as part of a separate internship experience.
Each student is assigned to a primary care practice. CCNC put together a curriculum, course syllabus, documents, articles, and other resources. Consultants with CCNC work with each student and practice to assist with the process. The students begin by introducing providers and staff to the PCHM model. From there, students work with the practices in areas such as improving patient access through scheduling, refining policies and procedures, assisting in the conversion from paper records to electronic medical records, and improving practice documentation. The program has been a win-win situation for the students and the practices.
According to ASU senior Katie Smith: “Through the practicum program at ASU, I was able to gain real life experience in a physician’s practice, allowing all the concepts that I have learned in class to fall into place as I worked with an officer manager to implement the PCMH polices.”
R.W. “Chip” Watkins, MD, MPH who is a Medical Director and senior consultant with Community Care of NC adds that “many students have told us that the experience of working hand-in-hand with these primary care practices has been the most helpful and exciting of their young careers. For them to have a real and meaningful field experience as part of their education really helps prepare them for the workforce.”
Appalachian’s student club, Future Healthcare Executives, co-hosted an American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE) panel discussion on The Triple Aim. Working with the Blue Ridge Local Program Council of the Charlotte Chapter of ACHE, students welcomed healthcare executives from around Western North Carolina to an ACHE sponsored program on access, cost, and quality in the Spring of 2012. Over 100 executivess and students attended the panel discussion.