Search

Clinical Resources

The League's Clinical Affairs Department provides timely information to health center providers on:

Clinical Practice Guidelines

National Guideline Clearinghouse
Serves as a public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Features include searching for guidelines by disease topic and comparing guidelines on the same topic. This site is sponsored by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Asthma - Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma
From the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP). The NAEPP keeps clinical practice guidelines up to date by identifying selected topics on asthma that warrant intensive review based on the level of research activity reflected in the published literature or the level of concern in clinical practice. This is their latest update.

Behavioral Health - Children's Behavioral Health Toolkits & Screening Information
MassHealth has developed a CBHI Screening Tool Toolkit to help providers implement standardized behavioral health screening in the primary care setting. The toolkit focuses on 4 of the more commonly used MassHealth-approved standardized behavioral health screening tools, the PEDS, PSC, M-CHAT, and PHQ-9. In addition, MassHealth's behavioral health services contractor, MBHP, has worked with the Dept. of Public Health's Bureau of Substance Abuse Services to develop a toolkit for the CRAFFT screening tool. Both toolkits provide information on how to use the selected tool and what to do when a screen indicates a member has a potential behavioral health services need.

CBHI Brochure and Companion Guide - The Children's Behavioral Health Initiative in EOHHS produces an informational brochure for families on MassHealth's home and community based services. There are five regional versions of the brochure and they are all available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and soon in Haitian Creole. You may order as many copies as they need all at no cost through the link above.

Diabetes - Massachusetts Adult Diabetes Guidelines
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Diabetes Prevention and Control Program and its Advisory Board convened a Diabetes Guidelines Work Group to develop Massachusetts Guidelines for Adult Diabetes Care. that include accompanying tools for use in the primary care setting. Partners included Baystate Health Systems, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan, Division of Medical Assistance, Fallon Health Care System, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, Masspro, Neighborhood Health Plan, Network Health, Provider Service Network, and Tufts Health Plan. The goal was to promote quality diabetes care throughout the Commonwealth by developing uniform guidelines to apply to adults with diabetes regardless of their insurer.

Geriatrics - Geriatric Program Plan Guidelines and Functional Assessment Tool Guidelines and Assessment Tool
The League created guidelines for Geriatric Program Planning and a medical record Functional Assessment Tool for Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).

Hypertension - Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure
Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) Express Report focuses on practical applications of the new evidence, including a revised treatment algorithm, drug tables, and convenient references.

Opioid - Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Pocket Guide
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is an effective response to opioid use disorder. It is the use of medications, in combination with behavioral therapies, to provide a whole-patient approach to the treatment of substance use disorders. Individuals receiving MAT often demonstrate dramatic improvement in addiction-related behaviors and psychosocial functioning. Guide produced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Prevention - Massachusetts Adult Preventive Care Guidelines
Preventive care recommendations and immunization guidelines for adults developed by the Massachusetts Health Quality Partnership (MHQP) and 19 health care partners.

Performance Improvement Tools

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the lead Federal agency charged with improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. As one of 12 agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, AHRQ supports health services research that will improve the quality of health care and promote evidence-based decision-making.

Health Disparities Collaborative
The Health Disparities Collaborative Web site is home for a community of learners who are committed to improving systems of health care. Using the methodology of the Planned Care Model and the Model for Improvement in the context of Community Oriented Primary Care, health centers are making a positive difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. This site provides the centralized portal for communication as well as a forum for sharing the challenges, successes, tools of the trade and lessons learned. With the support of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with our strategic state and national partnerships, we are transforming systems of care to improve patient health outcomes and organizational sustainability. All Massachusetts health centers may access the Massachusetts Virtual Office as a resource for a statewide listserv and resources.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement
IHI is a reliable source of energy, knowledge, and support for a never-ending campaign to improve health care worldwide. The Institute helps accelerate change in health care by cultivating promising concepts for improving patient care and turning those ideas into action.

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission is the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Since 1951, the Joint Commission has maintained state-of-the-art standards that focus on improving the quality and safety of care provided by health care organizations. The Joint Commission's comprehensive accreditation process evaluates an organization's compliance with these standards and other accreditation requirements. Joint Commission accreditation is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization's commitment to meeting certain performance standards.

Massachusetts Association for Healthcare Quality
The Massachusetts Association for Healthcare Quality (MAHQ) is dedicated to providing education and opportunities for professional growth for its members, while promoting teamwork and communication within the healthcare community.

National Committee for Quality Assurance
Provides information on the quality of the nation's managed care plans.

Office of Performance Review
Each year, HRSA conducts approximately 500 performance reviews to assure that the more than 3,000 organizations receiving grant or cooperative agreement funding from HRSA are successfully accomplishing their program purposes. A performance review is a collaborative effort between HRSA and the grantee. It includes:

  • selection of Performance Review Measures
  • analysis of performance in relation to the selected Performance Review Measures
  • creation of a Performance Report, which includes Performance Improvement Options
  • development of an Action Plan, which includes Performance Improvement Actions to be completed by the grantee on each Performance Review Measure

Health Providers' Lupus ToolKit
There is ample clinical information available for providers on lupus. The information contained in this tool kit is not meant to substitute for the clinical information that is obtainable with a simple modicum of effort. Rather, it is meant to be a quick reference and a supplement enabling health providers to take a more holistic approach to patients, those already diagnosed and undiagnosed with lupus. That is to say, to take the patient's point of view more into account and to appreciate the broad spectrum of the effect of lupus on their daily lives. The intent of the tool kit is to allow the health provider to be both "healer and helper" to patients living with lupus.