Step 3: Develop an HCT Improvement Plan

Prior to beginning your HCT improvement plan, assess your practice’s current implementation

of the Six Core Elements using Got Transition’s Current Assessment of HCT Activities or HCT

Process Measurement Tool (see here) to obtain a baseline. This will help your practice identify

current strengths and areas for improvement. Once you assess your practice using either the

Tip: If you’ve done QI work before, build on former or existing teams to populate your HCT team.How to Implement the Six Core Elements of Health Care Transition™ 3.0 6

Current Assessment or HCT Process Measurement Tool, prioritize your area of focus. For

example, you may decide to start with Core Element 1 and progress through each of the Six

Core Elements, or your assessment may indicate you need a different prioritization. You do not

need to focus on all of the Six Core Elements at the outset, nor do you have to aim to reach the

highest score for each of the core elements you prioritize (e.g., Level 4 in the Current

Assessment of HCT). It is important to develop goals that are realistic and achievable for your

practice.

During the plan development process, keeping an eye on where the youth will transfer is

important. Develop a strategy to maintain a database of interested adult providers, and who

will curate it and how often. This will help all involved in the process.

To start the HCT improvement plan, use a known improvement methodology. The Model for

Improvement has been adopted by many health care organizations for its simple but robust

model (see QI Primer for more detail). Consider practice/system strategies or initiatives that

can help to push the project forward.

Include an overall aim, specifying the following (see QI Primer for more detail):

• Scope (single clinic, primary care, specialty care, institution-wide)

• Population – e.g., all youth vs. youth with special health care needs vs. youth with

selected conditions vs. all young adults 20 and over

• Timeline for improvement activities (what you need to do and how it will get done)

• Measurement plan (what data are needed to show improvement?) (see here for more

information)

Note: The Current Assessment of HCT or HCT Process Measurement Tool can be used as

part of that measurement plan to assess process improvements over time and fidelity to

the Six Core Elements. Other measures could include an HCT experience survey, using

for example Got Transition’s HCT Feedback Survey, that could be anonymously given out

after the initial visit to the adult practice.