The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) has created the PRIME Support and Alignment Network Community to partner with state level organizations through the federal Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI) and to help practices successfully transition to new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement models and reporting demands under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).
Diplomates of the ABFM have a unique opportunity to get free practice transformation assistance through a state level Practice Transformation Network (PTN) and the added benefit of access to the ABFM PRIME Registry for three years—free. The ABFM will provide the first 6, 000 board-certified family physicians who enroll in a PTN an opportunity to participate in this innovative two-pronged approach to practice improvement and transformation.
How to Secure Your TCPI Participation:
Step 1: Pre-register for free enrollment in the PRIME Registry for three years by sending an email to registration@primesan.org.
PRIME, the first qualified clinical data registry (QCDR) for family medicine, extracts electronic health record (EHR) data on 42 clinical quality measures across clinician, practice or health system, and patients, and populations and turns it into practical data sets that physician teams can use to enhance the care provided to their patients. Additionally, the registry will automatically report required quality data to CMS for the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and all new reporting demands set forth by MACRA implementation. ABFM diplomates can also use the registry function to report Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) IV activities.
View the two-page flyer detailing the benefits of the PRIME registry for PTN enrollees.
Step 2: Enroll in a PTN
The PTNs are peer-based learning networks designed to coach, mentor, and assist clinicians in developing core competencies specific to practice transformation. This approach allows clinician practices to become actively engaged in the transformation and ensures collaboration among a broad community of practices that creates, promotes, and sustains learning and improvement across the health care system. Ohio has two options for enrolling in a PTN – the first lead by Vizient and the second by the National Rural Consortium. Visit the Health Care Communities website to view a map with Ohio’s PTN contacts.
TCPI Background
Last fall, the ABFM received notice that it was one of 39 health care collaborative networks selected to participate in the TCPI through the U.S. Health and Human Services. The ABFM, in partnership with the American Academy of Family Physicians, received up to $538,000 to provide technical assistance support to help equip family physicians and their practice teams with tools, information, and network support needed to improve quality of care, increase patients’ access to information, and spend health care dollars more wisely.
As a support and aligning network (SAN), the ABFM and the AAFP will support 25,000-40,000 clinicians to expand their quality improvement capacity, learn from one another, and achieve common goals of improved care, better health, and reduced cost. The network will develop a member interest group learning collaborative for TCPI family physicians, offer developed practice performance coaching guides as options for PTN to use in helping practices transform, and give MC-FP and continuing medical education (CME) credit to PTN family physicians to help participating clinicians meet the initiative’s phases of transformation and associated milestones, clinical, and operational results.
The ABFM will also cover the cost for more than 6,000 PTN family physicians to utilize the PRIME Registry as a mechanism for turning their EHR data into information to help improve practice quality, report quality measures to meet federal requirements, and enhance MC-FP. The PRIME Registry will also be available to other physicians who work with family physicians to support practice improvement.
The TCPI award is part of a comprehensive strategy advanced by the Affordable Care Act that enables new levels of coordination, continuity, and integration of care while transitioning volume-driven systems to value-based, patient-centered health care services. It builds upon successful models and programs such as the hospital value-based purchasing organization program, partnership for patients with hospital engagement networks, and accountable care organizations.
If you have questions about TCPI, please contact ABFM Project Coordinator Elizabeth Skees.