AHRQ Case Studies and Guide Focus on Improving Primary Care through Practice Facilitation

Primary care practice facilitation holds promise as an effective and flexible strategy to support medical groups in their ongoing efforts to provide better, more efficient care and improve the experiences of patients and families, according to four new AHRQ case studies. Practice facilitation services are provided by trained individuals or teams that use a range of quality improvement and practice improvement approaches to build internal capacity of the practice over time and improve patient outcomes. AHRQ has supported a number of practice facilitation initiatives, such as the development of a 2011 manual, Developing and Running a Primary Care Practice Facilitation Program: A How-To Guide. (Plugin Software Help) Four new case studies illustrate how such programs operate in different organizational and geographic contexts and bring to life the concepts discussed in the manual. The case studies cover: North Carolina’s Area Health Education Centers Practice Support Program, Oklahoma Physicians Resource/Research Network, the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative, and Vermont Blueprint for Health’s Expansion and Quality Improvement Program. Select to access the case studies.