Health center utilization of telehealth advanced in leaps and bounds since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. In 2019, fewer than 500,000 visits in health centers nationwide were provided via telehealth, and in 2020, over 28 million visits were conducted virtually as reported in the Uniform Data System (UDS).¹
Massachusetts leadership and learning in telehealth have been a collaborative effort between Community Care Cooperative (C3) and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers that together formed the FQHC Telehealth Consortium. In April 2020, the FQHC Telehealth Consortium began leadership calls with participating health centers to make progress on long-term telehealth strategy, with an initial focus on patient access and health center revenue. The FQHC Telehealth Consortium worked with Massachusetts health centers to develop a vision of telehealth maturity advancement and measurement specific to health centers, which, in turn, led to the development of a telehealth maturity model assessment tool to be applied across five domains.² This tool was used to conduct interviews in telehealth maturity in summer/fall 2020 and again in summer/fall 2021. The key objectives of measuring telehealth maturity were to:

1. Understand successes in implementation over the 18-month period from March 2020 through September 2021.
2. Identify areas for continued development and refinement of telehealth models in health centers in order to sustain telehealth past the pandemic.

In 2021, interviews, using the maturity assessment tool, were conducted with health center leaders from each of 34 Masssachusetts health centers. The tool assesses telehealth advancement across the domains of strategy and leadership, clinical integration, people, technology, and reimbursement and policy. During the 34 interviews, themes emerged as to where health centers need to focus their efforts to advance, as well as best practices and recommendations. This resource summarizes those themes, organized by experience, what to do now, and next steps, within each of the five domains. The intent is for the experiences of Massachusetts health centers to inform others across the country.

¹Health Center Program Uniform Data System (UDS) Data Overview 

² HITEQ Center - Assessing Telehealth Maturity in Health Centers: A report out on the progress of Massachusetts health centers in advancing telehealth during a pandemic

Download the resource in the Documents to Download Section below.

Designed to engage providers seeking knowledge and skills to implement the delivery of PrEP via telehealth (known as "telePrEP") in their practices, the session showcased models of practice and the role of clinicians and navigators within a PrEP care team. Speaker presentations were followed by a facilitated question and answer session.

Under-resourced organizations that adopt telehealth platforms or other patient-facing digital tools rapidly, but not comprehensively, have the potential to increase safety vulnerabilities and decrease access for the most marginalized patients. This brief assessment contains questions that health centers can ask potential vendors to ensure their tools support equitable access and address the needs of the health center's population.

The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focuses on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. Apply to join this health center learning collaborative here.  

Health centers will participate in four structured virtual sessions where they will engage with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics will include: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows,  aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series is particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.

Learning Collaborative Structure and Expectations: 

• All sessions will be hosted by HITEQ using Zoom Meeting and start at 12:00 ET.  The sessions will last about 90 minutes.

• The learning collaborative is open to staff of health center organizations across the nation. Primary Care Associations and Health Center Controlled Networks are welcome to attend with a health center in their network.

• It is ideal for health centers to identify a team of 2 – 3 multidisciplinary staff to attend each session. Teams may include staff in leadership, IT, quality improvement, and/or clinical roles.

• Sessions will be interactive and engaging. Participants are encouraged to join by video.

• Health center teams will have homework following sessions 1, 2 and 3.  

All sessions are scheduled to begin at 12:00 ET and will last 90 minutes. The session schedule is:

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The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focused on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. 

Health centers participated in four structured virtual sessions where they engaged with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics included: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows, aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series was particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.

Health center utilization of telehealth advanced in leaps and bounds since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. In 2019, fewer than 500,000 visits in health centers nationwide were provided via telehealth, and in 2020, over 28 million visits were conducted virtually as reported in the Uniform Data System (UDS).¹
Massachusetts leadership and learning in telehealth have been a collaborative effort between Community Care Cooperative (C3) and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers that together formed the FQHC Telehealth Consortium. In April 2020, the FQHC Telehealth Consortium began leadership calls with participating health centers to make progress on long-term telehealth strategy, with an initial focus on patient access and health center revenue. The FQHC Telehealth Consortium worked with Massachusetts health centers to develop a vision of telehealth maturity advancement and measurement specific to health centers, which, in turn, led to the development of a telehealth maturity model assessment tool to be applied across five domains.² This tool was used to conduct interviews in telehealth maturity in summer/fall 2020 and again in summer/fall 2021. The key objectives of measuring telehealth maturity were to:

1. Understand successes in implementation over the 18-month period from March 2020 through September 2021.
2. Identify areas for continued development and refinement of telehealth models in health centers in order to sustain telehealth past the pandemic.

In 2021, interviews, using the maturity assessment tool, were conducted with health center leaders from each of 34 Masssachusetts health centers. The tool assesses telehealth advancement across the domains of strategy and leadership, clinical integration, people, technology, and reimbursement and policy. During the 34 interviews, themes emerged as to where health centers need to focus their efforts to advance, as well as best practices and recommendations. This resource summarizes those themes, organized by experience, what to do now, and next steps, within each of the five domains. The intent is for the experiences of Massachusetts health centers to inform others across the country.

¹Health Center Program Uniform Data System (UDS) Data Overview 

² HITEQ Center - Assessing Telehealth Maturity in Health Centers: A report out on the progress of Massachusetts health centers in advancing telehealth during a pandemic

Download the resource in the Documents to Download Section below.

Designed to engage providers seeking knowledge and skills to implement the delivery of PrEP via telehealth (known as "telePrEP") in their practices, the session showcased models of practice and the role of clinicians and navigators within a PrEP care team. Speaker presentations were followed by a facilitated question and answer session.

Under-resourced organizations that adopt telehealth platforms or other patient-facing digital tools rapidly, but not comprehensively, have the potential to increase safety vulnerabilities and decrease access for the most marginalized patients. This brief assessment contains questions that health centers can ask potential vendors to ensure their tools support equitable access and address the needs of the health center's population.

The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focuses on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. Apply to join this health center learning collaborative here.  

Health centers will participate in four structured virtual sessions where they will engage with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics will include: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows,  aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series is particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.

Learning Collaborative Structure and Expectations: 

• All sessions will be hosted by HITEQ using Zoom Meeting and start at 12:00 ET.  The sessions will last about 90 minutes.

• The learning collaborative is open to staff of health center organizations across the nation. Primary Care Associations and Health Center Controlled Networks are welcome to attend with a health center in their network.

• It is ideal for health centers to identify a team of 2 – 3 multidisciplinary staff to attend each session. Teams may include staff in leadership, IT, quality improvement, and/or clinical roles.

• Sessions will be interactive and engaging. Participants are encouraged to join by video.

• Health center teams will have homework following sessions 1, 2 and 3.  

All sessions are scheduled to begin at 12:00 ET and will last 90 minutes. The session schedule is:

<

The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focused on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. 

Health centers participated in four structured virtual sessions where they engaged with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics included: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows, aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series was particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.

Health center utilization of telehealth advanced in leaps and bounds since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. In 2019, fewer than 500,000 visits in health centers nationwide were provided via telehealth, and in 2020, over 28 million visits were conducted virtually as reported in the Uniform Data System (UDS).¹
Massachusetts leadership and learning in telehealth have been a collaborative effort between Community Care Cooperative (C3) and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers that together formed the FQHC Telehealth Consortium. In April 2020, the FQHC Telehealth Consortium began leadership calls with participating health centers to make progress on long-term telehealth strategy, with an initial focus on patient access and health center revenue. The FQHC Telehealth Consortium worked with Massachusetts health centers to develop a vision of telehealth maturity advancement and measurement specific to health centers, which, in turn, led to the development of a telehealth maturity model assessment tool to be applied across five domains.² This tool was used to conduct interviews in telehealth maturity in summer/fall 2020 and again in summer/fall 2021. The key objectives of measuring telehealth maturity were to:

1. Understand successes in implementation over the 18-month period from March 2020 through September 2021.
2. Identify areas for continued development and refinement of telehealth models in health centers in order to sustain telehealth past the pandemic.

In 2021, interviews, using the maturity assessment tool, were conducted with health center leaders from each of 34 Masssachusetts health centers. The tool assesses telehealth advancement across the domains of strategy and leadership, clinical integration, people, technology, and reimbursement and policy. During the 34 interviews, themes emerged as to where health centers need to focus their efforts to advance, as well as best practices and recommendations. This resource summarizes those themes, organized by experience, what to do now, and next steps, within each of the five domains. The intent is for the experiences of Massachusetts health centers to inform others across the country.

¹Health Center Program Uniform Data System (UDS) Data Overview 

² HITEQ Center - Assessing Telehealth Maturity in Health Centers: A report out on the progress of Massachusetts health centers in advancing telehealth during a pandemic

Download the resource in the Documents to Download Section below.

Designed to engage providers seeking knowledge and skills to implement the delivery of PrEP via telehealth (known as "telePrEP") in their practices, the session showcased models of practice and the role of clinicians and navigators within a PrEP care team. Speaker presentations were followed by a facilitated question and answer session.

Under-resourced organizations that adopt telehealth platforms or other patient-facing digital tools rapidly, but not comprehensively, have the potential to increase safety vulnerabilities and decrease access for the most marginalized patients. This brief assessment contains questions that health centers can ask potential vendors to ensure their tools support equitable access and address the needs of the health center's population.

The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focuses on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. Apply to join this health center learning collaborative here.  

Health centers will participate in four structured virtual sessions where they will engage with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics will include: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows,  aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series is particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.

Learning Collaborative Structure and Expectations: 

• All sessions will be hosted by HITEQ using Zoom Meeting and start at 12:00 ET.  The sessions will last about 90 minutes.

• The learning collaborative is open to staff of health center organizations across the nation. Primary Care Associations and Health Center Controlled Networks are welcome to attend with a health center in their network.

• It is ideal for health centers to identify a team of 2 – 3 multidisciplinary staff to attend each session. Teams may include staff in leadership, IT, quality improvement, and/or clinical roles.

• Sessions will be interactive and engaging. Participants are encouraged to join by video.

• Health center teams will have homework following sessions 1, 2 and 3.  

All sessions are scheduled to begin at 12:00 ET and will last 90 minutes. The session schedule is:

<

The Streamlining IT Infrastructure for a Successful Telehealth Program learning collaborative series focused on best practices, common solutions, key considerations, and other strategies for success when implementing telehealth technologies in a health center. 

Health centers participated in four structured virtual sessions where they engaged with subject matter expert, Rachel Dixon, President and Executive Director of Prime Health, and in didactic learning and peer sharing and discussion. Session topics included: assessing technology and identifying best practices for streamlining telehealth workflows, aligning telehealth technology with financial sustainability, telehealth technology vendor considerations, and operationalizing telehealth technology strategies.

This series was particular to health centers and oriented to:

• Health centers that may have started a telehealth program, but pulled back and are not sure how to go forward, or

• Health centers that have started telehealth implementation, have some experience and are ready to take a step back and reassess the technology you are using, and

• Health centers that are ready to think about alignment of their telehealth strategy with long term financial stability.