Testimonials
“The introduction of Clinical Microsystems to this practice combined with the on-going training and emphasis on quality improvement provided by VPQ has been invaluable. Without VPQ’s assistance in preparing us for change management and clinical quality improvements, we would not have successfully participated in the Vermont Blueprint for Health Care, implemented a complex electronic health record, or any of the numerous other process improvements executed within our practice. Before VPQ’s guidance we were struggling individuals; now we are a cohesive team working toward the same goals.”
- Priscilla Phelps, Participating Blueprint Office Manager, Bennington Pilot Project
"To whom it may concern,
I have been the beneficiary of practice changing instruction and tutelage thru VPQHC. Having first been involved with the Chronic Care Collaborative several years ago before it was transitioned and adopted by the then newly elected Douglas administration as their health care policy. I cannot hope to relate all the improvements in my clinical practice that have been inspired and implemented as a result of folks like Cy Jordan and Bonnie Walker and the rest of the VPQHC family. Mostly because what was taught was not a ‘system’ or a ‘project’, what was taught was a way of looking at the world and being given tools thru which one could take a piece of that world and then fix and improve it. Plan, Do, Study, Act, Plan, Do, Study, Act, Plan, Do, Study, Act, I cannot help but think I will be reciting that mantra for the rest of my days whenever I approach a problem.
We take great pride here in the Bennington area in the role we continue to play in “leading edge” health care, even as Vermont is a leader on the national level. For me and my practice this really began and continues through VPQHC, the Blueprint would not be the Blueprint if it were not for VPQHC. And even though the Blueprint has become something else, VPQHC still has a role to play in promoting health system transformation and quality improvement infrastructure because not every one “has drunk the Kool-Aid”. There are so many out there struggling to stay afloat and do not feel they have the time or inclination for even trying to tackle what seems to be an overwhelming problem. They do not want “you” to fix their internal problems; they want to be taught how they can fix themselves. (Of course there are larger problems out there that we would love for you to fix, with input from ‘us’ but I digress.)
I understand times are tough but if we stop supporting successful organizations that have proven themselves useful, who are the little greenhouses through which change can germinate and grow then we are sacrificing the future for the here and now. What if VPQHC funding had been cut the year before the CCC? What if it had been cut before James Douglas’ health care advisors decided this was the idea around which his health care policy would revolve? Where would Vermont be now? Where would I be now? Where would my patients’ be now?
Do you have an answer?"
- Peter C. Park, MD, Participating Blueprint Primary Care Physicians, Bennington Pilot Project
"The Vermont Blueprint for Health is a business model that requires the same operations infrastructure as any large or small organization. It is essential to success that a Blueprint community have leadership, goals, stated purpose, education, communications planning and a strong performance improvement methodology. Other requirements for Blueprint functionality is IT support and excellent collaboration with other agencies and services. The Bennington Blueprint is successful because of its relationships and collaboration with the Department of Health (Local and Central Offices), VPQHC, United Counseling Services and with Southern Vermont College. These relationships enable expansion of the Blueprint scope, improve health access and provide workforce development."
- Jennifer Fels, RN, MS Project Leader, Bennington Pilot Project, United Health Alliance
"The training in clinical Microsystems was invaluable to our office. Scrutinizing and revising the way we do our work was a necessary prelude to our successful transition into chronic care management. Finding ways to provide care in a more uniform and time efficient manner allowed us to provide expanded care to our patients. This was difficult and time-consuming work for our five practitioner/ nurse teams in our group who were accustomed to practicing in their own manner. The same training was also vital to our adoption of a new electronic medical record. Successful implementation of the EMR will in turn facilitate our ability to expand not only our chronic care management to a larger population of patients, but will also allow us to move further toward a new Medical Home model of care.
My partners and I are grateful for the support we received from VPQ. I’m convinced we would not have been successful with the difficult changes we’ve made in our practice without that support. I’ve been concerned about the larger issue of the state and national movement toward EMR adoption in small practices, and have my doubts that many practices will survive that challenging transition without the training and support we received."
- Barbara Raskin, MD,Participating Blueprint Primary Care Physician, Bennington Pilot Project
I've heard that VPQHC and The Vermont Blueprint for Health have their budgets up for reevaluation by the State Legislature. I am concerned about the budget cuts that have taken place over the past few years, and I would like you to convey the strong feelings that I have about VPQHC and the Blueprint to the State Legislature.
Our practice has been with the Blueprint since its inception in Bennington. It has helped us to transform our practice from the traditional medical office model of acute care, and treating chronic illnesses in a "catch-as-catch-can" manner. This is the way medicine has been practiced for decades, but has not served us well in getting chronic illnesses under control. In fact, it has been a very dysfunctional system that has let chronic disease overtake the health care system and drive it into insolvency and threatening to bankrupt the public and private sectors combined.
Through the Blueprint, we have learned how to transform our medical practices to be more systematic in managing chronic diseases, to be proactive, to set goals and be able to measure in order to know how we are doing in reaching our goals. This has required a wholesale change in the way we run our office. This transformation of our and the other offices in the Blueprint requires a lot of training, time and patience as well as perseverance. The Blueprint, through the excellent education and training in Clinical Microsystems provided by VPQHC, Bonnie Walker of Tupelo Consultants in particular, and others, have provided us with the tools necessary to achieve this transformation. The electronic medical record is only one small part of this transformation, and is only a tool to help achieve that transformation.
I make this analogy: The old traditional medical practice using paper charts is like the person who has a standard drivers license, and drives a standard passenger car. That person can drive himself, a few passengers, and small loads, and drives locally. Practice transformation is like this person now being given an 18-wheeler with the job of transporting massive cargos long distance across state lines in unfamiliar territory. This person has never driven an 18-wheeler before, let alone have a license, and is not sure where they have to go, how to get there, or what they will do when they get there. But with taking a course on how learn to drive an 18-wheeler, learning how to read complex maps, learning how to change course, modify routes, change plans to fit the territory & adapt to new situations as they come up, this person is now ready to hit the road with the tractor-trailer. But learning does not stop there. New situations come up that will require new stategies and new adaptations; flexibility and the ability to learn and adapt is key.
The tractor trailer is the EMR. The Blueprint and VPQHC using the methods of Clinical Microsystems is the program that helps train the health care provider to function in this new position, to be able to get a handle on this new EMR, to learn a different way of driving the medical practice. It requires a whole new way of doing things; it is a Transformation. It takes learning, training, practice, and relearning.
With Vermont now at the forefront of national health care reform as a model for moving forward, Vermont cannot now afford to undercut the VPQHC, the Blueprint, and the Clinical microsystems training that physicians need to Transform their practices.
- Gregory King, MD, Participating Blueprint Primary Care Physician, Bennington Pilot Project.
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