In August 2019, over 1,200 community health centers were awarded more than $107 million in Quality Improvement Award grants from HRSA in recognition for providing exceptional care. The funds were provided based on meeting requirements in six areas including improving quality of care, access enhancement, value enhancement, health disparities reduction, the advancement of health information technology and patient-centered medical home care. Community health centers can be recognized for multiple awards.
- Improving Quality of Care Awards- $39 million awarded to 1,258 health centers. These awards are given to community health centers which improve care in three subcategories:
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- National Quality Leaders– Rank in the Top 1-2% of all health centers in diabetes health, heart health and behavioral health treatment.
- Health Center Quality Leaders– Best overall clinical performance for health centers. Gold (Top 10%), Silver (Top 11-20%) and Bronze (Top 21-30%) awards are given to community health centers with top ratings for clinical quality measure.
- Clinical Quality Improvers- Reported 15% improvement for a clinical quality measure.
- Access Enhancer Awards- $4 million awarded to 349 health centers. Access Enhancer Awards are given to CHCs who increase the number of patients they serve as well as increase the number of patients receiving comprehensive services.
- Value Enhancer Awards- $1 million awarded to 40 health centers. The health centers that receive this award demonstrate more efficient costs for the delivery of care as well as increasing access to quality care and improving the quality of care.
- Health Disparities Reducer Awards- $7 million awarded to 298 health centers. In order to receive this award, health centers must meet or exceed Healthy People Goals for 2020, or they must have improved care among different ethnic and racial groups by 10%.
- Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality Awards– $6 million to 1,165 health centers. HIT quality awards are given out based upon health centers that demonstrate leadership in providing telehealth and at least five HIT services. These services include e-prescriptions, clinical decision support, health information exchange, health IT, patient engagement, and health IT for patient portals.
- Patient Centered Medical Home Recognition- $50 million to 1,040 health centers Winners of this award are health centers that provide patient-centered home recognition in one or more states.
Funds from Quality Improvement Awards can be used in numerous ways. These awards can be used to improve infrastructure, hire new staff, improve technology, implement telehealth services, and improve care delivery systems. It is recommended to use the funding within the first 12 months.
Certintell’s telehealth services are a way in which QIA funding can be used. We offer care management, behavioral health integration, remote patient monitoring and other telehealth solutions to provide efficient cost-effective care benefiting both patient and provider. Implementing telehealth solutions can help health centers earn Quality Improvement Awards in the following years by allowing a higher volume of patients to be served, lowering the cost of care, increasing access to care and advancing health information technology.
If your health center wants help earning a Quality Improvement Award, schedule a call today!
