COMMUNITY HEALTH

C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-O-N-S

CHC Services

Community Health Connections, a division of Milestone, is the Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Unit (HCQU) serving the following nine counties in Western Pennsylvania: Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, and Venango.

Community Health Connections (CHC) provides the following services:

Training

All trainings offered by CHC are free and provided by request to those serving adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD). We also have a Training Syllabus where specific topics and locations are prearranged and open to the public, space permitting. Adults with ID/DD are also encouraged to access CHC for training information and services. To obtain a copy of our latest Training Syllabus or for more information please contact Community Health Connections at 724-283-0990 or email our Training Coordinator at info@hcqu.org.

Medical and Behavioral Health Technical Assistance

CHC provides limited consultation on matters related to individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) experiencing a medical or behavioral health challenge. Our highly skilled clinical professionals are available to assist you with the following and more:

• Review specific information about a new or existing diagnosis/medication (Medical or Psychiatric)
• Resource to help develop a Lifetime Medical History
• Resource related to Discharge Planning (from hospital, rehabilitation facility or nursing home)
• Resource to address the Medical/Behavioral information in the Individual Support Plan (ISP)
• Resource for information on Medical/Behavioral health promotion and safety
• Guidance in accessing community resources
• Review of Incident Management (IM) data
• Clinical resource at team meetings
• Respond to health and safety queries
• Facilitate a Biographical Timeline
• Customize training to address a specific need
• Assist a team to formulate questions to ask the physician or psychiatrist treating the individual served
• Assist  provider agencies in developing or revising their Health and Safety policies and procedures
• Provide consultation and recommendations to teams around complex medical/behavioral health challenges
• Examine and respond to data arriving from the IM4Q process.
• Assist persons navigating through the system serving those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
• Address issues around access to care including medical and behavioral health services, rehabilitation, hospice, medications, and equipment
• Provide customized training targeted to the Healthcare System to improve services to individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and those with a dual MH/ID/DD diagnosis

Health Risk Profiles (HRP)

CHC completes Health Risk Profiles to assist the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) in identifying health related trends in the population with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Community Capacity Building

CHC works to identify, improve, and expand community resources to benefit individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. 

Risk Management and Quality Improvement

CHC offers clinical expertise to Risk Management and Quality Improvement teams serving those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Lending Library

CHC maintains a growing lending library that is free and available to those serving individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in our 9-county region.