In support of improvements in quality of care and health outcomes, Louisiana Healthcare Connections, a Healthy Louisiana Medicaid health plan, made 463 free clinical training opportunities available to healthcare providers across the state in 2019.
“Healthcare is constantly evolving, and providers need access to evidence-based, quality-driven training that keeps them up-to-date on medical advances and new models of care,” said Stewart Gordon, MD, chief medical officer for Louisiana Healthcare Connections. “Making this training available at no cost to healthcare providers ensures that their patients – our members – have access to the highest quality of care, and in turn, contributes to improved health outcomes.”
In total, Louisiana Healthcare Connections provided 463 clinical training events in 2019, awarding nearly 676 hours of continuing education to 5,081 healthcare providers. Many of the course offerings awarded continuing education hours (CEUs) for licensure for physicians, nurses, counselors, and social workers. Courses focused on best practices for quality care delivery, psychotropic medications, systems of care, ADD/ADHD diagnosis and treatment, and other topics.
In the health plan’s 2019 annual survey of providers, Louisiana Healthcare Connections’ clinical training team earned a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 95. The Net Promoter Score, or NPS, measures customer experience on a scale from zero to 100.
“The trainings have been extremely useful with my patients and address their dialysis treatment adherence barriers,” said Kashenna Lemieux-Bowman, LMSW, with Davita, Inc., a physical health provider with offices across the state.
“I’m using the information I learned to titrate members down to lower levels of service as they make improvements,” agreed Carla Boudreaux, LPC-S, with Resource Management Services in Jennings, La.
Courtney Farmer, with Family Solutions of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, added, “Our agency provides behavioral health services, so the trainings are very useful to our staff while we’re out providing services to the clients in our community.”
In addition to the behavioral health and integrated care courses, the health plan hosted a free, web-based training series that enabled eligible physicians to complete the educational requirements necessary to become buprenorphine-waivered to treat Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Conducted by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), the series prepared physicians to prescribe and treat opioid dependency with buprenorphine in the primary care setting, significantly increasing access to the evidence-based treatment. More than 120 physicians registered for the course.
“Buprenorphine has proven to be a clinically effective therapy that has the potential to reduce the rates of opioid dependency in Louisiana,” said Gordon. “By providing the training necessary for physicians to become waivered to prescribe this therapy, we are increasing opportunities for them to address this addiction at the point of care.”
Healthcare providers statewide are encouraged to take advantage of the free clinical training offered by Louisiana Healthcare Connections. To learn more or to register for an upcoming course, visit https://www.louisianahealthconnect.com/providers/resources/provider-training.html