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Chronic Care Professional (CCP) Certification Program Delivered to CVD Management Team at Kaiser Permanente

HealthSciences Institute recently delivered the Chronic Care Professional (CCP) certification program to nurse practitioners, physicians, case managers, dieticians, and pharmacists at Kaiser Permanente’s Georgia Region in coordination with the launch of their new Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Management program.

The CVD management program aims to improve evidence-based care delivery, patient-centered care, chronic condition self-management, and shared-decision making for members with cardiovascular disease, heart failure, diabetes or hypertension. Program nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses—partnering with clinical pharmacists—will co-locate in KP primary care clinics. A planned care visit model will be used to deliver protocol-guided, proactive, and coordinated care—in collaboration with area Kaiser Permanente primary care physicians and specialty care providers.

Patient partnering, motivational interviewing, and self-management support strategies are employed by program staff to support patient engagement and behavior change. CCP certification is required for all nurse practitioners, and recommended for CVD Management clinical pharmacy specialists.

“What we like about the CVD Management program is that it combines the key features of the medical home and planned care models, with robust on-site primary care disease management and support services. Additionally, patient partnering and behavior change facilitation strategies have been integrated within key team roles.” says Dr. Blake Andersen, CEO of HealthSciences Institute. “We’ve been highlighting Kaiser Permanente programs for years in the CCP program—so it’s great to be partnering with them on this project.”

According to Dr. James Hipkens, Associate Chief of Medicine and Program Co-Director at Kaiser Permanente, “We realize that the success of the CVD Management program requires professionals and teams who can effectively partner with patients, support self-management, facilitate behavior change—and work across disciplines. We believe that the CCP program will help prepare our staff to deliver better value to our members.”