Primary Care Extension ProgramThe Primary Care Extension Concept
The Oklahoma Physicians Resource / Research Network (OKPRN) played a pivotal role in the development of and legislative support for the Primary Care Extension Program (PCEP). Section 455 of the Health Care Bill of 2010 includes language that has been concieved and perfected in OKPRN over the first decade of the 21st Century.
Envisioning the two effective and feasible models for successful and sustainable healthcare transformations (integrated care delivery systems and strategic local community-level partnerships), Dr. James Mold, director of OKPRN, persistently argued for the development of a national primary care extension infrastructure that will facilitae the generation and dissemination of relevant, practice-based clinical knowledge that improves the quality and safety of care and ultimately achieves better outcomes for all. This kind of insfrastructure has never been available in the United States. As a consequence, there has been a tremendous gap between research and translation of research findings into practice.
More information about PCEP and its planed implementation can be found in the documents below:
PCEP in the Health Care Bill (Section455)
PCEP: Transforming Primary Care and Community HealthPrimary Care Extension in Oklahoma: An Evidence-Based Approach to Dissemination and Implementation (IMPaCT Project)
The purpose of this project is to develop a county-based health improvement infrastructure that will help primary care practices become patient-centered medical homes and to improve the health of Oklahomans and provide assistance to three other States, helping them to create similar infrastructures. Click HERE to read the AHRQ announcement about the IMPaCT Grant.