Care Continuum Alliance Research Initiatives

The Care Continuum Alliance is the leader in population health quality and research. From its ongoing Outcomes Guidelines Report project to initiatives in accountable care, obesity and other key topics, the Care Continuum Alliance draws broadly on the expertise of its members and external stakeholders to set the standard for industry guides and other resources.

Work Groups & Efforts

This 2012 initiative will use the CCA Outcomes Guidelines Report as a springboard to develop guidelines for the evaluation of integrated population health management programs delivered in any health care setting. Work groups will focus on three major components: evaluation guidelines, measures guidelines and special topics.

• Integrated Program Evaluation Work Group: This work group will address considerations for measuring integrated programs in all service delivery models.
• Program Comparison/Total Cost Savings: This work group will explore and recommend evaluation guidelines for program comparison and total cost savings.
• Measures Guidelines: This work group will recommend existing measures and recommend the development of new measures where applicable. Subgroups will address care coordination and care management measures, as well as integration, support and supplemental measures.
• Special Topics: This work group will discuss and prioritize topics that would require unique evaluation considerations, such as cancer/oncology, musculoskeletal, high-risk maternity, shared decision-making, and rare diseases.

The International Task Force will focus on international efforts among the current CCA membership through a one-day symposium and global market reports. The second International Symposium on Wellness & Chronic Care will take place Oct. 17, co-located with The Forum 12 in Atlanta. Programming will showcase population health programs in countries outside the United States and the innovations and global partnerships that contribute to successful outcomes. The regional global market reports will each highlight one global region and provide detailed analyses of the state of health care in the region, as well as opportunities for CCA members. The first global market report will focus on Brazil and is scheduled for a Spring 2012 release.

CCA will supplement its 2008 Obesity Toolkit with an updated review of the literature of current evidence, case studies of successful and innovative worksite wellness programs, an evidence gap analysis, an update to the original obesity benefit design, an algorithm program component decision guide, a discussion of the role of chronic conditions in the treatment of obesity and strategies for primary care providers. This update is scheduled for release in Fall 2012. The original toolkit can be accessed through the CCA Obesity Resource Center.

This work focuses on the current evidence around the use of incentives and the role of behavioral economics. The group has researched and reviewed the use of incentives to engage various populations, both initially and long-term. All service delivery models want to better understand how to effectively use extrinsic and intrinsic incentives, an area that is also included in the group's work. This research is due to be released in Spring 2012.

In 2011, this work group developed a self-assessment survey for organizations based on the CCA organizational best practices framework model published in Outcomes Guidelines Report Volume 5. The survey has been piloted and will be released in 2012.

This work group has developed a transitions diagram to visually depict the roles of the population health industry in care transitions (e.g., care coordination, HIT). From that work, the group has continued with the goal of developing a transitions map, providing clarity and definition to the goal, objectives, strategies, tactics, gaps, deployment strategies, and key HIT components of a specific transition of care (e.g., acute to post-discharge). This work, along with case studies and a resource section, will be released in 2012.

Partnerships & Collaborations

In 2010, CCA began an initiative to develop a robust, sustainable data repository comprising data contributed by organizations providing programs along the health continuum. This repository would support ongoing research that will help the industry to standardize evaluation methodologies, identify program components that are most effective for specific populations and address emerging questions of interest to population health management stakeholders. Seven CCA member organizations have agreed to provide claims-plus data for the initial database creation. The database partner, Thomson Reuters, is responsible for building and managing the database.

CCA has partnered with RAND Corp. to implement the project's research agenda, with an initial focus on a workplace wellness study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This study will look at the types and effectiveness of wellness programs offered by employers and insurance providers and will use the CCA data repository to estimate the real-world impact of the interventions on health-related behavior, control of risk factors, health outcomes, cost and utilization. RAND's report to Congress is expected in Fall 2012.

CCA has partnered with Deloitte to develop a compendium of best practices, key components and leading thinking on health care consumer engagement. The project leveraged both research and interviews with select industry stakeholders as background for a summit to explore opportunities to improve consumer engagement capabilities and research. Findings include key levers of engagement, a summary of existing literature and proven best practices and promising innovations in engagement.

Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) and CCA are dedicated to improving the health of populations. HERO focuses its attention on the employee population through research and education to create and disseminate evidence-based research describing "best practices" in employee health management. CCA has a broad perspective to optimize the health of populations and has specifically outlined strategies for employee populations. HERO and CCA have agreed to collaborate on a project to identify and recommend measures and standards for the assessment of population health management programs delivered to an employer's workforce. Although the initiative is focused on the employer community, other settings and segments will benefit from the work, as well.

This initiative will utilize leadership and volunteers from CCA's quality and research team, combined with representatives from HERO and its research committee. Collaboration work groups will focus on six identified domains: participation, satisfaction, health impact, financial outcomes, value on investment and organizational support.

This joint effort with the Urban Institute seeks to demonstrate collaborative and innovative models of care delivery that have been developed through multiple stakeholder partnerships. Findings will define the core criteria of innovative models, analyze key components, identify commonalities between models and justify the importance of a multiple stakeholder health delivery model.

Participation in External Efforts

The Care Coordination Task Force developed a paper for the role of care coordination in the context of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). The guide includes recommendations from experts in the field; references to peer-reviewed articles; and data on improvements in PCMHs related to improved coordination of care, best practices in care coordination and tools and resources to assist PCMH practices integrate or improve coordination of care for patients. The Care Coordination Guide can be accessed at http://www.pcpcc.net/guide/coordination_guide

The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance brings together a diverse and powerful group of consumer, provider, government, labor, business, health plan and quality-of-care organizations to stop, think and change how we perceive and approach the problem of obesity, overweight and weight-related health risks, including heart disease and diabetes. CCA is a Steering Committee Member.

February 22, 2012