DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance and HealthSciences Institute (HSI), a leading health care certification and resource organization, today announced an agreement under which the Institute’s Chronic Care Professional (CCP) certification program will carry the DMAA name and endorsement.
The agreement, which the DMAA Board of Directors approved in September, marks a significant step toward greater promotion of evidence-based professional education in chronic care, health management and behavior change foundations and best practices.
“We saw this as a perfect opportunity to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts,” DMAA President and CEO Tracey Moorhead said. “HealthSciences Institute pioneered certification of chronic care professionals and DMAA serves as the leading advocate for the population-based care those professionals practice, so it was a natural fit.”
“We’re pleased to have the support of DMAA, which has been at the forefront of this field since its inception,” HSI President and CEO Blake Andersen, PhD, said. “We look forward to drawing on the substantial expertise, knowledge and resources of DMAA and its members to better prepare health care professionals for success in the new health care environment.”
Under the agreement, the Institute’s 4-year-old CCP certification program will be branded as a DMAA educational product and offered at a discount to DMAA organization and individual members. DMAA will have seats on the HSI Advisory Board, which guides ongoing development of educational content. DMAA and HSI also will jointly create an independent certification examination committee for the program. HSI will continue to direct all onsite and online programs.
The CCP program is based on a 2003 HSI national competency modeling study, with extensive input by subject matter experts in chronic care, health care improvement, behavioral medicine and health psychology. Curriculum design and e-learning support were provided by learning and development faculty from the University of Toronto Medical School. The interdisciplinary program is consumer-focused, rather than discipline-focused, and designed to augment the specialized training and skills of nurses, physicians, pharmacists, rehabilitation therapists, dietitians, social workers and others working in disease management, health plan, provider and community settings.
To date, the CCP program has been selected by more than 25 U.S. health plans, including 10 Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates, and three states — Minnesota, Wisconsin and Vermont. More than 1,000 professionals have received certification under the program, which provides both onsite and Web-based instruction and includes comprehensive educational materials. Certification, designated by the “CCP” credential, is valid for three years.
“In a relatively short time frame, the CCP program has won broad acceptance and built a strong reputation for educational quality. This exceptional track record was a deciding factor in our decision to move forward with this partnership,” Moorhead said. “We’re extremely pleased by this opportunity to collaborate with HSI.”
Andersen said certification of professional staff augments program certification in distinguishing organizations from competitors. It also can reduce staff onboarding and development costs and support improved quality outcomes reporting and performance-based measures. For individuals, CCP certification provides a valuable distinction in an increasingly competitive field and recognizes specialized knowledge and skills.
“Through this partnership, the CCP program will continue to evolve to meet the needs of adult learners who are on the front line of population-based health management and chronic care,” Andersen said. “By and large, these individuals are most interested in mastering practical approaches and interventions for supporting patient adherence and behavior change, shared decision-making, evidence-based care and physician partnering.”
HSI surveys show that more than 95 percent of professionals who complete the CCP program agree or strongly agree that it leaves them better prepared to deliver chronic care services in their day-to-day job roles and that the program represents a “good value” for organizations.
Individuals can register for online CCP e-learning certification at www.healthsciences.org or schedule live, onsite delivery by contacting HSI at [email protected] or (866) 640-6060.
About DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance
DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance convenes all stakeholders providing services along the care continuum toward the goal of population health improvement. These care continuum services include strategies such as health and wellness promotion, disease management and care coordination. DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance promotes the role of population health improvement in raising the quality of care, improving health outcomes and reducing preventable health care costs for people with chronic conditions and those at risk for developing chronic conditions. DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance represents more than 200 corporate and individual stakeholders, including health plans, disease management organizations, health information technology innovators, employers, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals and researchers and academicians. Learn more by visiting DMAA online at www.dmaa.org.
About HealthSciences Institute
HealthSciences Institute is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary collaborative and health care certification and resource organization. HealthSciences maintains an advisory board of subject-matter experts representing a number of health care disciplines, industries, and learning institutions. HSI helps health care stakeholders and professionals deliver improved value to health care consumers and purchasers by applying evidence and best practices in health and disease management — and the new generation of health coaching and behavior change facilitation solutions from the fields of behavioral medicine and health psychology. HSI’s partnerships with health care centers of excellence and leading health care solution providers ensure thought leadership and innovative solutions to the many human and financial challenges of chronic care. Learn more by visiting www.HealthSciences.org.
Contact: Carl Graziano DMAA (202) 737-5781 [email protected] Maria Vanesa Cascino HealthSciences Institute (866) 640-6060 [email protected]
SOURCE: DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance
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