The Colorado Family Medicine Residency PCMH Project

HealthTeamWorks, the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, the Colorado Association of Family Medicine Residencies and the Colorado Institute of Family Medicine have partnered for medical practice transformation and curriculum redesign in Colorado’s 10 family medicine residency programs.

The three-year Colorado Family Medicine Residency PCMH Project is funded by The Colorado Health Foundation. It aims to facilitate the transformation of the family medicine residency practices into Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) and redesign the residency’s curricula to train physicians in the core competencies of PCMH care delivery. 
 

Major project outcomes include:

• Residency practice qualification for at least Level II NCQA PPC-PCMH (Physician Practice Connections-Patient-Centered Medical Home) recognition
• Residency practice improvement in “medical homeness” as measured by assessment surveys
• Improvement in at least two chronic or preventive disease performance measures
• Increased clinician implementation of the Chronic Care Model 
• Sustained practice improvement work
• Residency program curricula changes incorporating the Chronic Care Model, quality improvement techniques and core PCMH concepts.

As the project completes its second year, it's receiving a great deal of national attention, according to project director Perry Dickinson, MD. The residency practices are making progress in several key areas of the PCMH, including leadership realignment, team-based care and resident involvement in the quality-improvement process.

Resources made available for the residency practices include:

• On-site practice improvement coaching
• Bi-annual collaborative learning sessions
• Curricular redesign assistance
• Leadership alignment assistance
• Funding stipend to help defray cost to program/ practice for engaging in improvement work
• Provision of consultative services in health information technology, practice redesign, group visits and patient self-management support
• NCQA PPC-PCMH Recognition Program™ application fee
 

 Peer-to- peer sharing at Learning Collaborative sessions 

Colorado Family Medicine Residency Practices include:    

• Fort Collins Family Medicine Residency Program —Poudre Valley Health System
• North Colorado Family Medicine —Banner Health (Greeley)
• Rose Family Medicine Center (Denver)
• Southern Colorado Family Medicine Center —Centura Health (Pueblo)
• St. Anthony Family Medicine Residency —Centura Health (Denver)
• St. Joseph’s-Bruner Family Medicine Center —Exempla (Denver)
• St. Mary’s Family Medicine (Grand Junction)
• Swedish Family Medicine Residency (Denver)
• University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency
• AF Williams Family Medicine Center —University of Colorado Hospital
• Lowry Family Health Center —Denver Health  

The core team:

• Perry Dickinson, MD — University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine
• Bonnie Jortberg, MS, RD, CDE, Curriculum Redesign Project Coordinator — University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine
• Nicole Deaner, MSW, Residency Program Manager — HealthTeamWorks
• Caitlin O’Neill, MS, RD, Residency Quality Improvement Coach — HealthTeamWorks

 Advisory and supporting team members from HealthTeamWorks:

• Marjie Harbrecht, MD — CEO and medical director
• Elaine Skoch,RN, MN, EMBA, NEA-BC — director of Systems Transformation; senior project advisor, University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine
• Frank deGruy, MD — department chair; senior project advisor
• Larry Green, MD — professor, Project Evaluation and Curriculum Redesign
• Doug Fernald, MA — project evaluation

Team members from the Colorado Association of Family Medicine Residencies/Colorado Institute of Family Medicine:

• Terri Means — director of operations
• Antonio Prado-Gutierrez — executive director, Steering Advisory Group

Learn more about assistance for a residency program outside Colorado.