Wheeler Receives Federal Quality Recognition for Health Care Services
Ties For Most Badges in State for Improving Access to Care, Quality, Health Equity, Information Technology, More
For the second year in a row, Wheeler earned six Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) badges from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, tied for the most in the state.
CHQR badges recognize health center program awardees and look-alikes that have made notable quality improvement achievements in the areas of access, quality, health equity, health information technology, and COVID-19 public health emergency response.
In nearly every case, the awards received by Wheeler for 2023 placed it in the top 30 percent of centers nationally, according to data here.
“Every day, we focus everything we do to provide the highest quality care for everyone we serve. Our team approach to integrated primary and behavioral health care produces the best outcomes for our patients, and the best care for the residents of Connecticut,” said Sabrina Trocchi, PhD, MPA, president and chief executive officer, Wheeler.
Categories for which Wheeler was recognized include:
Health Center Quality Leader (Bronze) recognizes achievement of the best overall clinical quality measure performance among all health centers through the following tiers: Gold (top 10%), Silver (top 11-20%), or Bronze (top 21-30%). Wheeler was among 31% of health centers nationally to receive this award.
Access Enhancer acknowledges increases in the total number of patients served and the number of patients who receive at least one comprehensive service (mental health, substance abuse, vision, dental, and/or enabling) by at least 5%. Wheeler was among 23% of health centers nationally to receive this award.
Health Disparities Reducer recognizes health centers that demonstrate improvements in selected clinical quality measures in consecutive UDS reporting years, 2021 and 2022, for at least one racial/ethnic group(s); or meets established benchmarks for all racial/ethnic groups served within the most recent UDS reporting year. Wheeler was among 21% of health centers nationally to receive this award.
Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality is awarded to health centers that meet all criteria for optimizing HIT services, such as adopting an electronic health record (EHR) system, offering telehealth services, exchanging clinical information online with key providers health care settings, engaging patients through health IT, and collecting data on patient social risk factors.
Addressing Social Risk Factors recognizes health centers that screen for social risk factors affecting patient health and are increasing access to enabling services. Wheeler is among only 27% of community health centers nationally to receive this award.
Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition is awarded to health centers with patient-centered medical home (PCMH) recognition in one or more delivery sites.
For more than 55 years, health centers have delivered affordable, accessible, quality, and cost-effective health care services to patients. Today, about 1,400 health centers operate nearly 15,000 service delivery sites that provide care to more than 30 million patients nationwide. By providing patients access to high quality, value-based care, health centers are uniquely positioned to meet the nation's most pressing health care needs, as well as emerging health priorities, including the continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s opioid crisis, and HIV/AIDS.
