August 14, 2009

BALDWIN, Mich. – Baldwin Family Health Care and Altarum Institute have announced a unique partnership designed to improve patient care and further the advancement of Family Health Care’s ongoing efforts to implement the “patient-centered medical home” model.  The patient-centered medical home model aims to achieve better patient outcomes at a lower cost by coordinating care, emphasizing prevention, and integrating behavioral health and public health services with medical practice.

During the year-and-a-half long project, Altarum plans to work directly with Family Heath Care staff to apply “lean” process tools and techniques to assist and support the center in transitioning to a patient-centered medical home model of health care delivery.  Altarum will work to improve processes – such as patient flow – with the aim of reducing patient wait times and increasing provider productivity.  “Lean” is a business management technique employed to improve efficiency and reduce waste in business processes, and its use in the health care field is relatively new. 

“The opportunity to partner with a national leader in research-based innovations that can help us improve care for our patients doesn’t come along very often,” said Linda Shively, President and CEO of Baldwin Family Health Care.  “We are very pleased to have been selected by Altarum to be part of this effort."

The partnership with Family Health Care is a part of Altarum’s Community Health Center Innovation Mission Project Initiative.  The Innovation Mission Project Initiative is a two-year, multi-million dollar collaborative philanthropy effort in which Altarum assists select community health centers improve patient care in innovative ways by contributing staff expertise directly to the centers.  In addition to Family Health Care, Altarum is partnering with three other Federally Qualified Health Centers around the country.

“During a time of great debate about the health care system in our nation, we recognize that community health centers like Baldwin Family Health Care are an extraordinary example of something that is working well in the American health care system,” said Lincoln Smith, President and CEO of Altarum.  “By directly combining Altarum-funded consulting expertise with Family Health Care’s focus on patients, we hope not only to improve the care for the thousands of patients they serve, but learn some lessons that can be shared with other community health centers around the country.”

Baldwin Family Health Care was established in 1967 as a private, nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center.  The organization provides primary care services to residents of Newaygo, Lake, Wexford and Missaukee counties through its health centers in Grant, White Cloud, Baldwin, Cadillac, and McBain.  Baldwin Family Health Care is accredited by The Joint Commission.

Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care.  A nonprofit serving clients in the public and private sectors, Altarum employs more than 350 individuals and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan with additional offices in the Washington, D.C. area; Atlanta, Georgia; Portland, Maine; and San Antonio, Texas.

This week, August 9-15, is “National Health Center Week.”  Sponsored by the National Association of Community Health Centers, the week is dedicated to recognizing the service and contributions of Community, Migrant, Homeless, and Public Housing Health Centers in providing access to affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to medically vulnerable and underserved people in the U.S.
 

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