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Health Disparities Collaborative

About The Northeast Cluster Collaborative

Health Disparities Collaborative
Staff
Information Systems Support

The National Health Disparities Collaborative is divided into five clusters: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest , West Central and Pacific West that includes American Samoa , and Guam Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands .

The Northeast Cluster is composed of Public Health Service Regions 1, 2 and 3 and includes Maine , New Hampshire , Vermont , Rhode Island , Massachusetts , Connecticut , New York , New Jersey , Delaware , Maryland , Pennsylvania , Virginia , West Virginia , District of Columbia , Puerto Rico , and the Virgin Islands.

During the first year of participation in a Health Disparities Collaborative (HDC), participants attend four face-to-face learning sessions over a 12- to 15-month period referred to as “Phase 1”. Community health centers learn three core models in the Health Disparities Collaborative: the Care Model, the Model for Improvement and the Learning Model.    In the current HDC 2003-04 Phase 1 cycle, there are 29 health center participants focusing on the following chronic conditions: Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Depression and Cancer.    Once community health centers successfully complete Phase 1, they transition to Phase 2 where they sustain the improvements they have implemented and spread them to other providers and sites within their service system. As of October 2003, a total of 74 health centers in the Northeast Cluster have successfully transitioned to Phase 2.   The number of patients being tracked in electronic registries at the end of Phase 1 for the 74 health centers was 14,180.   Those 74 health centers are now tracking a total of 34,839 patients, an increase of almost fifty percent.

The goals of the Northeast Cluster Collaborative are to:

		Generate and document improved health outcomes for the underserved populations;
		Transfer knowledge about how to promote positive breakthrough changes; and
		Develop infrastructure, expertise, and leadership to support and drive improved health, access, and cost outcomes.

 Attainment of these goals depends upon continual learning, improvement, and change.

To learn more about the Health Disparities Collaboratives, visit the project  web site:
http://www.healthdisparities.net.