On August 11th, the Leadership Team of the Walker County Health Action Partnership (anchored in part by the Bold Goals Coalition and United Way of Central Alabama) voted to approve the new Coordinated Care Priority Group. Chaired by Joette Kelley Brown and Co-Chaired by Alicia Stewart, both of Ridgeview and Ridgewood Health Services, the group’s overarching goal is to improve the health of Walker County residents by increasing the coordination of providers along the continuum of care.
As the name implies, care coordination is a process through which teams of healthcare professionals work together to ensure that their patients’ 
health needs are being met and that the right care is being delivered in the right place at the right time by the right person. This newly approved priority group has been meeting for several months to identify the causes of poor patient outcomes, build capacity and determine ways to work together to improve outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions. Priority Group members have been working with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation to perform a root-cause analysis and develop actionable steps to get organized and address pressing issues.
The Coordinated Care Priority Group will be primarily focused on:
- advancing health literacy and medication safety
- improving the transition of care
- enhancing end-of-life care.
There are at least 19 organizations currently involved in the priority group, including health systems, home healthcare providers, hospice, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient rehabilitation providers and local pharmacies. As the local hospital, Brookwood Baptist-Walker will play a key role in the effectiveness of this new priority group. Using local data will be key to tracking and monitoring the impact of the group’s efforts on patient health outcomes.
If you would like more information on how to join the Coordinated Care Priority Group, please contact Elyse Peters, Health Action Partnership Specialist, at epeters@uwca.org.