Most organizations prefer that practice coaches have real work experience as health professionals or practice administrators. There is general agreement that all coaches need skills in the fundamentals of quality improvement and organizational change. Coaches also need knowledge and expertise in the core content areas of primary care improvement, including areas such as access to care, improving continuity of care, improving the care of chronic conditions, implementing electronic health records, and assisting practices in using registries to manage patient populations and panels. An honest self-assessment of expertise can help to identify areas of focus for continuous training.
Training coaches is an ongoing process. Some basic competencies should be in place before starting coaching, but some can be learned only through experience in real clinic practice settings. Most coaching programs use some sort of apprenticeship to get the coach started. Even for the most experienced of coaches, it is essential to provide ways to vet ideas and share best practices throughout the assignment. This will ensure that coaches are refining skills, identifying strategies that might work in their settings, and finding support and camaraderie with peers faced with similar challenges.
An excellent resource has been recently released by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ). The Practice Facilitation Handbook is designed to assist in training new practice coaches as they begin to develop the knowledge and skills they need to support meaningful improvement in primary care practices.
Compiled by Jen Powell, an AF4Q technical advisor working with the Improving Performance in Practice (IPIP) Technical Support Team.
How can practice coaches assist practice leaders in identifying potential future reimbursement and incentives associated with QI initiatives?
One Alliance developed a tool to address this.
What are the key skills and behaviors to look for when hiring a practice coach?
Enthusiastic leadership and project management skills are a good start
How do you develop a business model to sustain your practice coaching program?
Three AF4Q Alliances are figuring out how.
How do practice coaches work with patient partners (patients who are engaged in QI efforts) to improve ambulatory care?
Learn from AF4Q Alliances’ pioneering work.
With limited resources, how do you deploy practice coaches most effectively?
It’s all about balance.
How does a practice coach assess a practice to determine areas of need and focus?
Focus on the practice’s ability to undertake improvement efforts, for starters.
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