Healthcare Workforce Transformation Projects

As part of Rhode Island's Health System Transformation Project (HSTP), RI Medicaid has established a partnership with the University of Rhode Island (URI), Rhode Island College (RIC), the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), and the Rhode Island Department of Health to develop healthcare workforce education initiatives that support the establishment of Accountable Entities and address the priorities and strategies identified in the EOHHS Healthcare Workforce Transformation Report.

Below is a brief description of current HSTP-funded Healthcare Workforce Transformation Projects at CCRI, RIC, RIDOH and URI as of July 1, 2019.

Community College of Rhode Island Healthcare Workforce Transformation Projects

Career Pathways Initiative

Budget:  $65,875

Lead:  Dr.Hilary Jansson, Dean of Health and Rehab Services

Description:  This project will develop materials and outreach programs to increase healthcare career awareness among high schoolers, job trainees, and healthcare employees.

 

Interprofessional Education Initiative

Budget:  $108,184

Lead:  Dr.Hilary Jansson, Dean of Health and Rehab Services

Description:  This project will design, plan, and implement a module-based teamwork and interprofessional education (IPE) curriculum for all health science students at CCRI.

 

Continuing Education

Budget:  $599,755

Lead:  Dr.Jeanne McColl, Assistant Dean of Nurse Education

Description:  This project will implement continuing education workshops and webinars that focus on integrating behavioral health, physical health, oral health, and long-term care for health sciences students at CCRI and health science workers in the community.

 

Supporting Diversity in Nursing

Budget:  $110,544

Lead:  Dr.Jeanne McColl, Assistant Dean of Nurse Education

Description:  This project forms a partnership agreement between CCRI and the Rhode Island Nursing Institute Middle College Charter High School (RINI) which will increase the cultural and linguistic diversity of the nursing workforce by introducing RINI students to the CCRI nursing pathway.

 

Rhode Island College Healthcare Workforce Transformation Projects

Assessing Health Literacy in RI and Building Health Literacy Skills in Vulnerable Populations and the Health Care Professionals Who Serve Them

Budget:  $211,903

Leads:  Dr. Carol Cummings, Associate Professor of Community Health and Wellness at RIC and Dr. Mary (Molly) Greaney, Associate Professor of Health Studies at URI 

Description:  In year one of this project RIC will measure and report on health literacy among RI Medicaid beneficiaries. Years two and three will expand the assessment and pilot interventions to build health literacy skills in Medicaid beneficiaries and the healthcare workforce.

 

Establishing a five-year BSW/MSW program

Budget:  $125,614

Leads:  Dr.Jennifer Meade, Associate Professor, MSW program and Dr. Wendy Becker, Associate Professor and Chair, BSW program

Description:  This project will develop a research-based curriculum and launch a five-year BSW/MSW program that will create a more informed and diverse workforce to better meet the needs of Medicaid beneficiaries and other populations seeking healthcare.

 

Disseminating Eating Disorders Education and Treatment Across Multiple Levels of Care: Improving Access in the Rhode Island Medicaid Population

Budget:  $460,854

Leads:  Dr. Lisa Tortolani, Assistant Professor at RIC and Clinical Director for the Master’s in Counseling Program (LMHC), and Dr. Andrea Goldschmidt, faculty member at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center at the Miriam Hospital

Description:  This project will develop training opportunities for master’s-level and pre-doctoral psychology students in evidence-based assessment and treatment of adolescent eating disorders (EDs) and provide the healthcare workforce with the knowledge and competence to recognize early symptoms of and intervention strategies for EDs.

 

Developing a Trauma Certificate Program as a Continuing Education Opportunity

Budget:  $29,058

Leads:  Daniel Harvey, MSW, Assistant Professor MSW Program

Description:  This project will create ten full-day and two half-day Learning Modules to expand into an interprofessional targeted series of workshops using existing evidence-based knowledge supporting assessment and treatment techniques for remediation of the after effects of traumatic life events.

 

Intergenerational Program to Support Older Adults in the Community

Budget:  $111,325

Leads:  Dr. Sharon Galloway, RIC School of Nursing

Description:  This project will pilot an intergenerational service learning course intended to identify and address the unmet needs of older adults striving to age in place within the community.  Students matched with older adults will identify the needs of these adults while providing patient centered care and arranging the coordination and provision of resources and services from community agencies for these adults.

 

Rhode Island Department of Health Workforce Transformation Projects

Rhode Island Health Education Exchange (RIHEE)

Budget:  $418,255

Lead:   Laurie Leonard, Director, RIDOH Academic Institute

Description:  This project will develop an online resource of content-specific for-credit, not-for-credit, and continuing education training modules and opportunities that can be delivered in the classroom, workplace, and/or online.  Availability of this information will assure that current and future health professionals employed by RI's Accountable Entities (AE) understand and apply health system transformation core concepts in their interactions with beneficiaries of the RI Medicaid Program.

 

Rhode Island Public Health Experiential Learning Program (RI-PHELP) 

Budget:  $218,421

Leads:  Laurie Leonard, Director, RIDOH Academic Institute

Description:  This project will expand RIDOH's public health experiential learning program.  The expansion will provide more opportunities for students to become conversant in the social determinants of health and other methods for extending care beyond the walls of the doctor's office.  These experiential opportunities support the development and sustainability of accountable entities through improved future employee knowledge, skills and abilities related to the HSTP core concepts, which include social determinants of health, health equity, health disparities, population health, data analytics, the integration of physical, behavioral, and oral health, long-term care, value-based payments, and care management. 

University of Rhode Island Healthcare Workforce Transformation Projects

URI Academic Collaborations Officer Embedded at Department of Health College of Pharmacy

Budget:  $60,481

Lead:  Dr.Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, URI Clinical Professor of Pharmacy

Description:  This project will create public health scholar opportunities at RIDOH for 10-15 pharmacy and other health professional students with an emphasis on interprofessional teams working on public health projects.

 

Interprofessional Team Education and Evaluation

Budget:  $268,625

Lead:  Dr.Phillip Clark, Director of Gerontology Program

Description:  This project will create an interprofessional training program to educate students from all URI health professions programs, train community-based preceptors, and develop faculty expertise in Interprofessional Education (IPE).

 

Enhancement of a Home-Based Primary Care Program

Budget:  $152,909

Lead:  Dr.Denise Coppa, Associate Professor, Interim Associate Dean for Graduate programs, College of Nursing

Description:  This project will augment the current curriculum for all nurse practitioner students by creating and utilizing in-class home based primary care simulation exercises.

 

Teach Healthcare Management Core Concepts of Health System and Practice Transformation

Budget:  $47,206

Lead:  Dr.Kathryn Jervis, Professor, Accounting

Description:  This project will modify four existing graduate courses and develop three additional graduate courses to teach the application of business skills in health care environments. Students will learn quality improvement, process measurement, leadership, administration, accounting, finance, marketing, and information technology concepts utilized in health care decisions.

 

A Center of Excellence for Interprofessional Continuing Education

Budget:  $204,498.50

Lead:  Dr.Mary-Jane Kanaczet, Director, Continuing Professional Development Programming

Description:  This project will develop a Social Determinants of Health interprofessional continuing education program and establish an accredited Center for Interprofessional Continuing Education at URI.

 

The RI Generating Healthcare Transformation (RIGHT) Project

Budget:  $150,470

Lead:  Dr.Kathleen Melanson, Professor, Nutrition and Food Sciences

Description:  This project will create a RIGHT (RI Generating Healthcare Transformation) Fellowship to train 15-20 culturally-diverse future health professionals with practical skills and critical thinking, preparing them to address vital health challenges, with particular focus on Medicaid populations. Emphasis will be placed on cultural diversity, interdisciplinary approaches, and career guidance.

 

Developing and Training Health Professionals in Rhode Island Communities

Budget:  $85,193

Lead:  Dr.Brian Quilliam, Associate Dean, College of Health Sciences

Description : This project will develop experiential Interprofessional Education and Collaboration (IPEC) opportunities for 100 health professions students in 10 community-based sites and will outreach middle and high school students to increase their knowledge of health professions and educational paths for health careers.

 

Health System Transformation Concepts: A self-paced virtual learning tool for RI’s health workforce

Budget:  $119,512

Lead:  Dr.Betty Rambur, Professor, Nursing

Description:  This project will develop a series of eleven online webinars to educate the current health workforce about the significance of value-based payments, care management, social determinants of health, health equity, population health, data analytics, and related topics.

 

5-Year Master’s Degree in Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling

Budget:  $61,538

Lead:  Dr. MarkRobbins, Department Chair, Psychology

Description:  This project will develop a 5-year Masters in Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling to meet the workforce needs of RI employers and the mental and behavioral health needs of Rhode Islanders.

 

Interprofessional Workforce Development

Budget:  $138,015

Lead:  Dr. Lynda Stein, Professor, Psychology

Description : BHDDH and EOHHS staff, and URI faculty and students will conduct integrated, team-based, data-driven research to assess system effectiveness and efficiency, preparing students to practice integrated team-based care at a higher data-driven level that plans for state needs.

 

Nurses for Obesity Prevention: A need for education

Budget:  $66,683

Lead:   Dr. Alison Tovar, Associate Professor, Nutrition and Food Sciences

Description:  This project will develop a childhood obesity prevention curriculum for senior nursing students that includes a combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on activities to increase knowledge of childhood obesity prevention and skills to interact with patients in their practice.