Iowa Chronic Care Consortium Honored for Promoting Health in Rural Communities
Ankeny, IA (PRWEB) December 04, 2013 -- Dr. William Appelgate, founder of the Clinical Health Coach training program, accepted on behalf of the Iowa Chronic Care Consortium recognition for the 2013 Friend of The Iowa Rural Health Association Award during that organization’s annual Joint Fall Meeting presented in conjunction with the Iowa Association of Rural Health Clinics.
More than 100 physicians, nurses and healthcare administrators from across the state gathered at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa in Ankeny for the “Celebrate Living in Rural Iowa” event on Nov. 21. The daylong meeting focused on sharing new tricks and reinforcing best practices related to the development and optimization of health systems for rural communities.
Peter Damiano, director of the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center, delivered an Affordable Care Act-centered keynote presentation in the nonprofit animal shelter’s conference center. Other speakers lined up with topics such as “Safety and Injury Prevention for Iowa Farms,” “New Services for Children with Mental Health Challenges in Iowa,” and “Cultivate Iowa: Social Marketing for Food Security.”
ICCC was selected as the organization to be honored for making special contributions to improve the health status of rural Iowans via population health programs. Craig Lang, president and CEO of The Prairie Strategy Group and a past president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, shared in his nomination of ICCC about the West Des Moines-based nonprofit’s leadership role in a multi-year Iowa Medicaid initiative to provide care management to rural Iowa Medicaid members with diabetes. “This report of findings is recently out,” Lang wrote. “There was an authenticated 54 percent reduction in hospitalizations and a 20 percent reduction in total health care costs for the population served by the study.”
Dr. Appelgate, in his acceptance of the award, told attendees that the “secret sauce” to inspiring and empowering patients to greater levels of personal accountability starts with placing them at “the epicenter of care, where they have truly belonged from the beginning.”
“The Iowa Chronic Care Consortium has been a supporter the Iowa Rural Health Association for many years and our missions really dovetail,” Dr. Appelgate said. “For me, our partnership was really natural. I am honored to have served for six years on the board of directors, and just delighted that our work has touched and improved the lives of so many rural Iowans.”
Lang wrote that ICCC’s clinical health coaching training program has become a national standard in the care management, care coordination and health coaching fields with more than 200 individuals trained as coaches in Iowa, and totaling more than 600 individuals from 31 other states. “Mostly, ICCC has gone about its work with energy, accomplishment and not much fanfare,” Lang concluded. “So, this may be a particularly fitting award for its service.”
About ICCC
The Iowa Chronic Care Consortium (ICCC), founded in 2002, offers population health consulting, training and planning techniques to healthcare providers and organizations. The mission of ICCC is to build capacity with other organizations to deliver effective, personalized health improvement and chronic care strategies that reduce the burden of chronic conditions. Learn more about the mission of ICCC and its clinical health coaching training programs at http://www.iowaccc.com.
About Clinical Health Coach
The Clinical Health Coach® training program builds upon six years of experience by the Iowa Chronic Care Consortium in providing onsite instruction to hundreds of healthcare professionals across the country. These professionals desire to engage and activate patients with chronic conditions, promoting self-care skills and improved clinical outcomes. The online training program, founded in 2013, prepares physicians, nurses, care coordinators, care managers, health coaches and other healthcare professionals how to use proven motivational techniques and communication skills to inspire patient self-management and accountability, leading to lower costs and improved outcomes. To learn more about Clinical Health Coach training programs, please visit us at http://www.clinicalhealthcoach.com.
Kathy Kunath, Iowa Chronic Care Consortium, http://www.iowaccc.com, 515-971-3234, [email protected]
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