Case Stories and Innovative Projects - Vermont
Inspired to achieve the goal of the safest and highest quality hospitals in the country by delivering the right care to the right patient every time, SHIP hospitals in Vermont utilized their funds to support their involvement in two new statewide health care quality initiatives: the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) - IMPACT Change Model created a proactive system of care to improve quality and patient safety; and the Vermont Blueprint for Health-Chronic Care, a public/private partnership that includes state agencies, health care providers, payers, consumers and stakeholders.
IMPACT is a national membership network composed of organiztions and individuals committed to building a better future for health care. Close to 200 hospitals from around the country are participating. Vermont is the first and only state in the nation in which all hospitals participate in the IMPACT program. Through IHI, SHIP hospitals in Vermont receive practical and proven strategies to improve care in their selected topic areas which include reducing adverse drug events, reducing surgical site infections, improving access to primary care and spreading improvements in chronic care. SHIP grant funds have specifically supported small hospital efforts to select appropriate measure and goals, collect data, and test changes.
The Vermont Blueprint for Health-Chronic Care is a statewide collaborative initiative to implement the Planned Care Model (formerly known as the chronic care model) in primary care physician practices across Vermont. The Planned Care Model is a best practice model for collaborative care and quality improvement that seeks to accomplish the following objectives: 1) self management for chronic disease patients, 2) an increase in evidence-based practice by health care providers, 3) assistance to communities that support healthy lifestyles, 4) development of a chronic care registry and information system, and 5) sustainability of a health care system that recognizes and invests in quality. The Vermont collaborative is focused on common quality goals and provides a model to improve the health of people with chronic conditions and the health care they receive.
The Vermont Office of Rural Health and the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, with the support of SHIP program resources, have provided significant funding to enable hospital participation in these complementary state-wide initiatives that have resulted in common quality goals, models, measures and comparative data to improve health and health care for residents of Vermont.
Contact: Dennis Barton