TOHF LEARNING COLLABORATIVE

Please contact Brita Allen at ballen@vahealthcatalyst.org for questions.

Networks for Oral Health Integration (NOHI)

Transforming Oral Health for Families (TOHF)

Request for FQHC Participation

 

Are you interested in increasing the number of young children receiving oral health services in your clinic?

The Transforming Oral Health for Families (TOHF) project, part of the HRSA-funded Networks for Oral Health Integration (NOHI) program, has space for up to three Virginia FQHCs to participate in an expert-lead, 18-month learning collaborative designed to assist clinics to better address the oral health care needs of infants and toddlers through interprofessional training and supported implementation of effective care coordination models. Selected FQHCs receive a stipend of $25,000 to offset related costs and have the opportunity to learn from peers and experts.

Project Summary

Virginia is one of four states, along with Maryland, New York, and DC, participating in the Transforming Oral Health for Families (TOHF) project, TOHF is led by HealthEfficient, a nonprofit Health Center Controlled Network in New York, and is designed to enable clinics to develop a family-centered and team-based model of integrating oral health with primary care for children 0-40 months, their parents/caregivers, and pregnant women. HealthEfficient will facilitate three, 18-month learning collaboratives over the next five years (all learning and coaching sessions are currently virtual) with FQHCs in VA, MD, DC, and NY. Virginia Health Catalyst will provide support and communications to FQHCs throughout the project duration.

Project Goals

  1. Increase oral health knowledge and skills for providers serving the target populations
  2. Increase health center capacity for oral health case management and interprofessional collaboration to better address oral health risks and needs
  3. Increase the number of children who have access to preventive oral health services and are cavity-free by age 3

Project Details

FQHC requirements: Eligible FQHCs in Virginia must have onsite dental and primary care clinics. Each participating FQHC agrees to:

  • Establish a cross-discipline project team consisting of
    • Dental and medical champions
    • Executive team members
    • Quality improvement (QI) members
    • Administrators
    • Health IT professionals
    • Other relevant team members
  • Implement QI processes, like Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles
  • Collect and report on non-identifying clinical and administrative data on key project metrics, such as health literacy and QI performance
  • Embrace inter-disciplinary collaboration and peer sharing

Time commitment: Participation begins in September 2021 and continues through February 2023, including the following activities:

  • Orientation webinar
  • Up to four remote learning sessions
  • Five (5) one-on-one practice facilitation calls or site-visits with practice facilitator and other HealthEfficient resources
  • Regular meetings of the quality improvement team and HealthEfficient team members
  • Data collection and reporting

Stipend: HealthEfficient will pay the FQHC up to $25,000

Application

If your FQHC is interested and meets these qualifications, click the button below to apply to be part of the TOHF learning collaborative. This will be a competitive selection process, and as many as three FQHCs in Virginia will be selected to participate in a learning collaborative of 8-10 teams throughout the region.

Applications are currently being accepted. Catalyst team members will review the applications and reach out with any questions. Applicants will be informed about their participation soon after applying.

Contact Brita Allen (ballen@vahealthcatalyst.org) for more information.