Date: February 26th – April 30th, 2025
Deadline to Apply: February 7, 2025 - Submit one application per health center

NACHC is hosting its fourth annual Learning Collaborative for Health Center Outreach and Enrollment (O&E) staff. This year’s Learning Collaborative will be focused on applying Lean process improvement methods to Health Center Outreach & Enrollment workflows and activities. This is a great opportunity to learn new skills and collaborate with your team to improve the health center staff and patient experience. 

 Outcomes from last year’s Learning Collaborative projects include: 

• Increased Health Center revenue by $360k annually 
• Decreased enrollment denials by 29% 
• Reduced workload for front-line staff 
• Increased employee satisfaction 

Overview

The Learning Collaborative is a free, professional development opportunity for Health Center Outreach and Enrollment (O&E) Staff that will focus on teaching and implementing Lean process improvement strategies to redesign your Outreach and Enrollment workflows. Faculty will include a national expert on Lean Methodology in addition to staff from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Primary Care Associations, and Health Center staff from a previous Learning Collaborative. 

The Learning Collaborative will consist of seven workshops with three optional coaching sessions over the course of ten weeks. Each workshop will be focused on a specific component of Lean Methodology such as project scoping, direct observations, current state mapping, waste identification, and more. See the Workshop Schedule below for more details. 

 Learning Objectives: 

• Describe Lean methodology and identify steps Health Centers can take to apply it to Outreach and Enrollment workflows; 
• Test and implement changes that result in process improvements; and 
• Discuss challenges and strategies related to Outreach and Enrollment with other Health Center peers;  
• Have Fun! 

Participation Expectations

• Each Health Center will designate two or more staff who work on a team doing Outreach and Enrollment to apply to the Learning Collaborative. (If you are interested in participating as an individual, please apply! If selected, you will be paired with other individual health center staff.) 
•  If selected, the health center team or individual will participate in weekly workshops and work on a Lean process improvement project related to their workflows in one of the following areas: 

  • Medicaid/Marketplace Enrollment 
  • Referrals 
  • Outreach Activities 

• Each participant should be prepared to: 

  • Attend and participate in all seven workshops. (Ensure at least one team member is at each workshop.) 
  • Secure support from your supervisor to block time on your calendar to participate in each workshop and complete all project assignments. Schedule a meeting with your supervisor to review your process map after the April 9, 2025 workshop. 
  • Complete all project assignments in between workshops. Project assignments take about 1 to 1.5 hours to complete each week. The project assignments build upon each other each week to create your Lean process improvement project. 
  • Present your Lean process improvement project to the rest of the Learning Collaborative participants at the culminating April 30 workshop. 

Application and Selection Deadline 

Apply here by February 7, 2025. Please submit one application per Health Center, if you plan to apply as a team. Health Center teams and individuals will be notified of whether they have been selected to join the Learning Collaborative by February 14, 2025.

Workshop Schedule 

The Learning Collaborative will convene 7 times, with three optional coaching sessions, between February and April 2025. Each workshop will be from 1:00-2:30pm ET. 

Workshop Dates 

Workshop 1: Lean Overview 
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 

Workshop 2: Scoping and Direct Observation 
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 

Workshop 3: Current State Mapping 
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 

Coaching Session on Current State Mapping 
Wednesday, March 19, 2025 

Workshop 4: Waste Identification and Future State Mapping 
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 

Workshop 5: Watch-it Metrics 
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 

Workshop 6: Implementation – Documentation, Testing and Training 
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 

Coaching Session on Watch-it Metrics 
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 

Coaching Session on Testing 
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 

Workshop 7: Continuous Improvement and Project Presentations 
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 

Faculty

• Becky McMullen, Director of Outreach and Enrollment, HealthSource of Ohio
• Carol Adkins, Director of Community Engagement, Outreach, and Enrollment, Kentucky Primary Care Association
• Jenny Walden, Outreach and Enrollment Program Directo, Indiana Primary Health Care Association
• Liz Tansey, former Covering Kids and Families Senior Manager, Colorado Community Health Network
• Mindy Hangsleben, COO, Varyn Consulting 
• Paula Campbell, Associate Vice President of Health Equity and Emergency Preparedness, Illinois Primary Health Care Association
• National Association of Community Health Centers Staff  
• Community Health Center Staff 
• Primary Care Association Staff 

Questions about the Learning Collaborative can be sent to: Jamie Reich at jreich@nachc.org 

This training is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) National Training and Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAP) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of awards totaling $6,625,000 with 100% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.