Health Coach
Case Study
Health Coach
Prevailing healthcare delivery and financing models unfortunately don’t often allow Primary Care Providers (PCPs) the extra time needed to improve the population health challenges faced by so many New Yorkers, and at the scale that is needed.
Nevertheless PCPs like doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners have been under tremendous financial pressure to maintain two competing priorities at once: 1) to increase the number of patients they can see with limited time, and 2) to provide “value,” which requires extra time and staff to help patients through health challenges, particularly those requiring more demanding levels of care.
Training Program Design & Evaluation
It was in this context that NYACH and Community Care of Brooklyn (CCB), the Maimonides Medical Center-led DSRIP network, began to look for creative workforce solutions. We determined that PCPs’ medical assistant staff would be well-positioned to take on the extra relationship-building, engagement, and follow-up work for patients with chronic medical conditions, if provided with appropriate skills development and wage increases. This partnership between NYACH and CCB led to the implementation of a customized Health Coach Model, beginning in 2016.
The curriculum itself was the product of a multi-stakeholder collaboration, including participation from Kingsborough Community College (KCC), Union Health Center, and many CCB providers. The comprehensive training focuses on new models of care, patient engagement, and chronic disease wellness, and prevention. The program also includes a role-play practicum, with direct participation from CCB supervisors who provide participants with expert feedback. Participants leave the training with a certificate in Health Coaching and six CUNY undergraduate credits.
Change Management
The model would not have been successful if we focused solely on training without also thinking about this role’s integration into existing primary care staffing models and workflows, given the newness and cross-specialty nature of the Health Coach role. As such, CCB, with NYACH’s support and consultation, implemented a robust change management strategy to roll out the Health Coach model, ensuring quality patient care, while also changing the minds and behavior of participating doctors, nurses, social workers, and other care team members.
Since January 2016, 260 individuals have completed the training program, and Health Coaches from CCB (which now funds the sustained implementation of the model) have engaged 40,000+ Medicaid patients at 100+ primary care practice sites.
Learn More
Learn more about the program, its recommendations for successful implementation and patient impact, by reading our industry brief on the initiative: The Win-Win-Win Health Coach Model.