The Quarterly Health Center Cycle

Every quarter, health center quality and risk teams follow a repeating cycle of key tasks. There are three main activities that need to be done within each quarter, and time goes fast—before you realize it, the next quarter is already here. Because there’s no way to go back and catch up on missed work, it’s critical for health center leaders to fully understand this quarterly rhythm and have strong systems in place to make sure assessments are completed on time.

Start by building a plan for the year. Map out each quarter ahead of time to avoid any last-minute rushes and make sure no one is scrambling at the end. A Quality Work Plan Calendar can help keep the team on track and remind everyone of their responsibilities each quarter.

As the quarter wraps up—in March, June, September, and December—the team should check in to confirm that all three core activities are finished:

• Quarterly Assessments of Clinician Care (Peer Review)
• Quarterly QI/QA Assessments
• Quarterly Risk Management Assessments (FTCA)

The RegLantern team has published detailed articles on each of these assessments. Once your team knows what’s required, set a clear plan for who is responsible for each task, and build in regular checkpoints to catch anything that might have slipped through before the quarter ends.

If your team needs help operationalizing your plans, contact RegLantern today!