It’s a New Health Care Environment

Chronic not episodic conditions are the biggest threats to population health, accounting for over 75% of total health care spending in the US. Chronic care improvement will dominate health care in the 21st Century.

Provider Profiling and Benchmarking Are Here to Stay

Health care purchasers and health plans are aggressively profiling and benchmarking physician and advanced practice nurse performance. Performance improvement will be expected of providers.

Pay for Performance and Improvement Will Grow

Medicare is leading private payers in the shift toward value-based purchasing of physician and advanced practice nurse services. CMS Physician Quality Reporting (PQRI) Initiative payments will rise to 2% in 2009 and 2010.

The Medical Home Model is the Future of Primary Care

The American Academy of Family Physicians’ (AAFP) medical home model has been widely endorsed by physician, payer and health plan organizations—and is currently the roadmap for primary care chronic care improvement. Organizations including the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) have acknowledged the key role that nurse practitioners often play in primary care chronic improvement programs.

New Roles for Advanced Practice Nurses

Today's advanced practice nurses are leading change in primary and specialty practice settings, retail clinics and hospitals. Particularly in rural and underserved areas, advanced practice nurses are being asked to lead medical home and chronic care improvement programs. Opportunities will grow for advance practice nurses who are prepared to lead patient-centered chronic care improvement and medical home programs.

Chronic Care Professional (CCP) Certification

Since 2004, the CCP certification program has prepared professionals and small and large interdisciplinary teams adapt and apply innovations and best practices in population health improvement, chronic care improvement, evidence-based medical care, patient partnering, behavior change facilitation and health promotion and coaching. CCP certification is the only nationally recognized certification to prepare health care professionals for success in the new health care environment. Learn more