ACP Practice Advisor offers 38 self-paced modules that address the key attributes and expectations of the PCMH, improving clinical care, and practice management
Philadelphia, April 2, 2014 — The American College of Physicians (ACP) has added four modules to ACP Practice Advisor: gout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and addressing substance use. ACP Practice Advisor is an online tool designed to help practices improve patient care, organization, and workflow.
The four modules are designed to improve the quality of a practice's clinical performance and help practices apply the attributes of patient-centered care to improve the health of people with these specific conditions. With these modules, practices can:
- implement a standardized clinical process for diagnosing gout and osteoarthritis.
- implement a standardized office process for managing patients diagnosed with gout, including episodes of acute pain, and osteoarthritis.
- ensure that physicians and clinical staff have current information about the treatment and management of gout and osteoarthritis.
- identify the pivotal role primary care physicians play in the early identification and referral of patients with potential inflammatory or rheumatoid arthritis.
- understand and aggressively treat the important co-morbid conditions in rheumatoid arthritis.
- implement procedures for screening, counseling, and referring to treatment adult and teen patients who may or do exhibit risky alcohol and substance use.
The rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and gout modules were funded by the Arthritis Foundation. The module on addressing substance use was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
With ACP Practice Advisor, internists can earn 20 points towards Part IV Maintenance of Certification (MOC) on five clinical topics: rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, chronic pain management, adult immunization, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Approximately 3,000 practices nationwide have successfully used ACP Practice Advisor since it was introduced in 2009. Providing practice teams with a robust self-assessment tool to improve patient care, streamline fundamental business operations, and identify and implement key features of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), users are part of an online community of practices committed to improving patient care and office efficiencies.
ACP Practice Advisor offers 38 self-paced modules that collectively address the key attributes and expectations of a medical home, improving clinical care, and practice management. Each module includes:
- Background information: an explanation of key principles, research, and important concepts.
- Practice Biopsy: a self-assessment questionnaire to help practices identify opportunities for improvement or validate efforts already underway.
- Case Study: "How It Works in Practice" describes the efforts of a practice as it works through commonly found challenges.
- Resource Library: relevant references, guides, and sample policies in a variety of formats. The resources from each module are combined into a master Resource Library that includes more than 1200 sources of information.
- Reporting Functions: a feature to help track progress over-time, identify opportunities for improvement, and compare practices.