JUNEAU – As part of a commitment to the health of our patient population, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) primary care team places an emphasis on our clinical quality measures, as defined by Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
The scores reflect the performance of a healthcare organization based on 20 measures identified by the government with a goal of improving patient health. The measures include a focus on diabetes, heart disease, cancer screening and prevention, and immunizations. SEARHC has met or exceeded 17 of the 19 measures this year and is proud to have significantly increased its performance in the past three years. Notably, for most of the measures, SEARHC scores surpassed the overall results for the state of Alaska.
Congress passed GPRA in 1993 requiring Federal agencies to demonstrate they are using grant funds from the Federal Government effectively. By linking grant resources with program performance, agencies must develop strategic plans that specify goals over a 3 to 5 year period and set annual performance targets. Each year these health organizations must report which targets were met, regularly conduct evaluations of their programs, and use the results to identify successes and failures based on performance data.
The Medical Director of SEARHC’s primary care clinics, Dr. Janice Sheufelt said, “I am extremely proud of our providers and staff for the outstanding work that they have been doing and for their commitment to meeting the GPRA clinical quality measures.”