Collaborative Background

Background
The Health Disparities Collaborative, sponsored by The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) in collaboration with health centers nation wide, began by focusing on Diabetes in October of 1998. Since then, the Collaborative has spread to cover multiple chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, depression, cancer, asthma, and has also branched into chronic illness prevention and finance/redesign. The goals of the Collaborative are to decrease or delay the complications of the disease, decrease the economic burden for patients and the community, and improve access to quality chronic disease care for underserved populations. The West Central Cluster staff members work with participating centers to develop the infrastructure, expertise, and leadership to support and drive improved health access and cost outcomes through continual learning, improvement, and change. Although organizations within the Collaborative pursue goals matched to local needs, all work to accomplish the national goals and outcome measures as well.

• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular
• Depression
• Cancer
• Asthma - PDF

Note: PDFs require Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download Acrobat Reader.

Collaborative Structure
The Collaborative is guided at the national level by an Expert Panel comprising individuals experienced in diabetic, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular, and depression care, health center operations, process improvement/redesign and evaluation strategies. A Director oversees all Collaborative operations, logistics, and evaluation. Each of the five lead Cluster primary care associations (PCA) and clinical networks provide regional project oversight and management within their respective region. Between Learning Sessions, training, networking, and spread activities are the responsibility of each Cluster. A Cluster Director, employed by the lead PCA in each Cluster, works in concert with a lead clinical network, and other national, regional, and local partners. Each Cluster has a Steering Committee with membership determined by local needs and expertise. Click here to see an organizational chart for the West Central Cluster (PDF Document). Click here for a map showing coordinator regions.

Collaborative Models
The Collaborative combines two models to achieve its results. The first is the Care Model developed by Ed Wagner, Director of the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound in Seattle. The second is the Model for Improvement developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) that utilizes rapid change cycles (first tested through small-scale PDSAs) to facilitate process improvement. This method has been successfully implemented at centers nation wide to improve the care of chronically ill patients. Another distinctive feature of the Collaborative is the focus on patients' needs and self-management abilities as drivers of heath change efforts. By taking a redesign approach, results will be achieved organization-wide as opposed to within just one department or area. This strategy assumes that health centers are not bound by the current system, that they can effect changes identified as useful, and that they desire a system that is efficient, effective, and satisfying for both patient and staff.