NEPI Collaborative

The New England Performance Improvement (NEPI) network was developed in 2004 as a collaboration among the Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) programs in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts.

The NEPI Collaborative is coordinated through the New England Rural Health RoundTable (NERHRT) External site, a membership-based organization composed of a diverse group of individuals and organizations committed to improving health and health care throughout the rural New England communities. The RoundTable was established in 1997 with funding from the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and serves as a regional rural health advocate for Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

NEPI Collaborative Activities

IHI HCAHPS Project

The purpose of this project is to assist New England rural hospitals with the implementation of best practices for patient engagement and satisfaction. Participating hospitals have access to the following services/programming:

  1. Regularly scheduled IHI nationwide HCAHPS Expedition webinars
  2. NEPI rural hospital-specific extended learning through customized webinars
  3. IHI materials on HCAHPS best practices
  4. Networking among New England rural hospital Performance Improvement professionals
  5. Individual consultations through existing state networks may be available
  6. Performance monitoring and benchmarking among participating NEPI rural hospitals (optional project component)

Governance Portal for New England Critical Access Hospitals

The governance portal is a web based training tool for new and existing hospital Board members that can be used either individually in one's home or collectively in a meeting format. The tool is broken into 11 modules that include:

  • Trustee Core Responsibilities
  • Strategic Planning
  • Fiduciary Responsibilities
  • Best Practices
  • Quality
  • Safety
  • Boards on Board
  • Healthcare Trends
  • Board Agendas
  • Boards and Dashboards
  • Physician Alignment

The tool was developed as a Flex funded project of the New England Performance Initiative which is a collaborative effort between the state offices of rural health in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts and the New England Rural Health RoundTable. The modules were developed by the Performance Management Institute and it is house in their online PMI University. Access the governance portal External site

If you do not already have a pass-code, you can get access by contacting Greg Wolf at gwolf@pmi-healthcare.com or calling (207) 518-6702. In addition to the online governance portal, the modules can be made available on DVD and these may be requested by also contacting Greg Wolf as above. We hope that you will find the governance portal a valuable resource. Please contact our office with any suggestions on how these can be used to better meet your Board training needs.