The most frequently pursued intervention in the $100 million, 18-state Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) quality demonstration (2010–2015) was quality improvement collaboratives, which 12 states offered to more than 300 primary care practices. This journal article identifies aspects of these collaboratives that were viewed as working well, and those that were not, based on 223 interviews with organizers and participants. Aspects of collaboratives that interviewees valued were aimed at attracting participation, maintaining engagement, or facilitating learning. To attract participants, interviewees recommended offering maintenance-of-certification credits, aligning content with existing financial incentives, hiring a knowledgeable collaborative organizer of the same medical specialty as participants, and having national experts speak at meetings. Positively viewed approaches for maintaining engagement included meeting one-on-one with practices to articulate participation expectations in advance, tying disbursal of stipends to meeting participation expectations, and soliciting feedback and making mid-course adjustments. To facilitate learning, interviewees liked learning from other practices, interactive exercises, practical handouts, and meeting face-to-face with new referral partners.

The journal article can be found here.