CONCORD, N.H. - The NH Citizens Health Initiative is one of 39 health care collaborative networks selected to participate in the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative, announced today by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. The Northern New England Practice Transformation Network, a partnership between the New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative at the University of New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice, Maine Quality Counts, and Vermont Program for Quality in Healthcare, Inc., will receive up to $15 million over four years to provide technical assistance support to help equip clinicians in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont with tools, information, and network support needed to improve quality of care, increase patients' access to information, and spend health care dollars more wisely.

"Supporting doctors and other health care professionals change the way they work is critical to improving quality and spending our health care dollars more wisely," said Burwell. "These awards will give patients more of the information they need to make informed decisions about their care and give clinicians access to information and support to improve care coordination and quality outcomes."

"We are very excited to be able to provide medical practices in the state with practical assistance to help them respond to the changing health care payment and practice environment and better serve their patients' needs," said Jeanne Ryer, director of the NH Citizens Health Initiative. "The initiative is working to move New Hampshire's health forward to create better health, provide better care and lower costs for New Hampshire residents. The Northern New England Practice Transformation Network will help us do that and we are excited to work with our Maine and Vermont neighbors to develop this collaboration across our region."

The Northern New England Practice Transformation Network will support 500 primary care and specialist practices to expand their quality improvement capacity, learn from one another, and achieve common goals of improved care, better health, and reduced cost. The network will conduct a readiness assessment for each practice; provide direct technical assistance through a network of practice "coaches;" offer a range of options and opportunities for regional and cutting-edge distance-based collaborative learning; provide evidence-based team trainings; and build networking and tools to improve care coordination across the participating practices.

These awards are part of a comprehensive strategy advanced by the Affordable Care Act that enables new levels of coordination, continuity, and integration of care, while transitioning volume-driven systems to value-based, patient-centered, health care services. It builds upon successful models and programs such as the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Organization Program, Partnership for Patients with Hospital Engagement Networks, and Accountable Care Organizations.

For more information on the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative visit: http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Transforming-Clinical-Practices/

The NH Citizens Health Initiative is a multi-stakeholder collaborative effort that promotes systems transformation in New Hampshire to improve the health of NH's population, in line with the Triple Aim. The initiative, a program of the Institute of Health Policy and Practice (IHPP) at the University of New Hampshire, has a 10-year history of leading, incubating, and testing innovative transformation efforts, including its NH Accountable Care learning collaborative to support health systems in using data to improve care and reduce costs and work on integrating public health with clinical care, in addition to its work on MapNH Health. Earlier projects have included a multi-stakeholder commercial medical home pilot, successfully promoting electronic prescribing throughout the state, primary care workforce, and support for system transparency on price and quality.

The Institute for Health Policy and Practice at UNH is an applied research institute, established in 1999, to conduct and disseminate high-quality, cutting-edge applied research and policy work that enables health system partners to implement evidence-based strategies to improve public health.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 13,000 undergraduate and 2,500 graduate students.