Disability-Competent Care Learning Collaborative: Coordination with Primary Care

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The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and The Lewin Group, under a Lewin contract with the CMS Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office (MMCO), developed learning communities to support health plan and provider efforts in implementing disability-competent care – with a focus on improving coordination of care with primary care providers.

The Disability-Competent Care Self-Assessment Tool identifies highly responsive primary care as one of the key pillars of health plans and providers being able to provide optimal care and services to those with disabilities. Health plans are increasingly seeing the importance of developing new relationships with primary care, i.e., either to meet new regulatory requirements, to enhance their current programs and services, or in preparation for the expansion of their services to meet the needs of new populations with diverse needs.

These learning communities took place over the course of several months from 2014 to 2016 and linked health plans to each other and to national experts in disability-competent care through monthly webinar-based workshops, small-group coaching, access to resources and a virtual communications platform. The methods, tools, resources and lessons from these plans – as well as the experience of national experts – will inform the guidance and support for health plans who join subsequent learning community efforts and will lead to additional resources developed for dissemination on this website.

Contact: If you have questions about this program, or are interested in learning more, please contact IHI Director, Marie Schall at 347-335-0454 or mschall@IHI.org.

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