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VA Healthcare-VISN 4

 

Center for the Evaluation of Patient Aligned Care Teams (CEPACT)

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The Center for Evaluation of PACT (CEPACT) is one of four Demonstration Labs funded by VA to evaluate the implementation of the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model.

Our work will support existing evidence and provide new knowledge that can help VA and other organizations improve health care through changes in how primary care is delivered.



Current Work

CEPACT’s current focus is on improving patient engagement and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in patient engagement. To achieve this, we are disseminating a patient engagement toolkit made up of practices conducted by VA Primary Care staff vetted by a panel of primary care staff, leadership, and Veteran patients.

For further information, please watch the following video:





Mission

CEPACT's mission is to evaluate different aspects of PACT implementation and innovations for effectiveness and subsequent spread to enhance the system-wide transformation of primary care delivery in VA’s Veterans Health Administration (VHA). CEPACT focuses on activities within Veterans Integrated Service Network 4 (VISN 4), comprised of 10 VA Medical Centers and 45 Community-Based Outpatient Clinics across six states.

Our current focus is improving patient engagement and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in patient engagement. We aim to do this by disseminating best practices for PACT implementation within VISN 4 and building tools to disseminate best practices nationwide.

Key questions we address include:

  • How are elements of PACT being defined and implemented in different locations? Why?
  • What helps or hinders implementation of PACT in different settings?
  • What are meaningful measures of PACT implementation and how do they influence care and outcomes?
  • What facility and patient-level characteristics predict successful patient engagement?
  • What drives racial and ethnic disparities in patient engagement at the VHA?
  • What actionable best practices improve patient engagement?
  • How do we improve clinical practices through PACTs and disseminate best practices?

Our Approach

No single approach to enhancing care will be right for all Veterans, and not all Veterans need the same help. We are evaluating PACT in a number of ways.

We measure the effects of PACT on the health of Veterans.
Our team currently examines medical data and talks with Veterans about their experiences with PACT. PACT's effects may be different for different Veterans. We focus on these differences to learn what works for different Veterans.

We survey staff and visit medical centers across VISN 4.
Although many of the components of PACT are already implemented in VA's primary care clinics, PACT is merging all the pieces into an organized system. We want to understand what it takes to create and sustain such changes in VA. Hearing about experiences with the PACT Team will help VA understand what challenges primary care staff have as they roll out the PACT model, and what strengths and assets they can use to overcome these challenges.

We share what we learn with VA staff around the country.
We expect to learn and share lessons for the future, both in and outside of VA. Our work will help shape the next innovations the VA will introduce. We hope this new knowledge will help ongoing efforts to achieve the goals of PACT.



Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Defense | HM – SSGT Heather Cozad, USAF (5)